STUDENTS from Gordon’s School have won through to the 2020 regional final of a scheme that rewards involvement in the community.

Representatives from the West End secondary school will appear before judges from the Goldsmiths’ Company Engagement Awards at the end of this month.

The school won a place in the southern finals for excellence in fundraising, food hamper collections, litter-picking in the community, volunteer gardening and sleeping rough to experience homelessness.

The award, which was launched last year by the London livery company, celebrates the positive impact schools and their students have in their local communities through charitable and voluntary initiatives.

In launching the award, Judith Cobham-Lowe – the first woman to be appointed prime warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company – explained: “Schools focus on their academic records and pupil exam grades. But we all know when we’re recruiting those same students a few years later for jobs, it’s the interesting ones, who’ve achieved something more than the right number of starred GCSEs and A-levels, you want working for you.

“Yet all this effort is rarely mentioned, let alone recognised.”

Gordon’s students take part in community work through the year and the school has a Make a Difference Day every summer. Activities have included singing with the residents of a local care home, collecting money for and raising awareness of charities, litter-picking and graveyard clearing, collecting food for the homeless and fundraising through cake sales and mufti days.

Year 9 students take part in the First Give social action programme as part of the Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum. They are tasked with raising awareness of a chosen social issue and acting as advocates for a local charity.

As part of their Platinum Honour Programme, sixth form students are also expected to complete a minimum of 20 hours volunteering, which encourages them to participate in activities within the local community.

Headmaster Andrew Moss commented: “As well as helping to build confidence, these opportunities cultivate the character strengths of courtesy, integrity, diligence, enthusiasm and resilience which underpin the school ethos.”

For the full story get the 5 March edition of the News & Mail