News
DofE Social Values Certificate 2019-2020
Posted on: June 11th 2020We are so pleased to announce that DofE have shared with us a certificate of social value for 2019-2020 which details the total hours DofE participants at Southgate School donated to their local community. Over the year students at Southgate have taken part in 1,846 hours of service which equates to a social value of £8,031.
Our students took part in volunteering in a range of institutions and settings including Scout groups, local libraries, after school clubs in primary schools and charity shops; we received fantastic feedback from their employers many commenting on how hard working, thoughtful and reliable our students were and that they “are always prepared to go the extra mile”. In turn the students also were able to gain from the experience Mr Thompson has said that “all the students did themselves and us proud! For most of the Year 9 students it will be the first time working with adults so it is great that they are so mature.”
One example of a Year 9 student doing great volunteer work is Grace Alagaratnam, after lockdown Grace followed DofE advice and changed the volunteer work she was doing to delivering medicines for her local pharmacy. Grace said “On one occasion I was delivering medicines to an elderly man living alone who suffers from Parkinson's disease. As I got closer to his door I realised he was singing. The idea of an elderly man with Parkinson's disease singing alone in his flat gave me hope for a better future. Nelson Mandela said ‘There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return’.”
Well done to Grace and all the other students who have taken part in volunteering this academic year, we hugely proud of them.
