Kettering Buccleuch Academy students visit Oxford University to showcase community project
On Tuesday 18th March, a group of students from Kettering Buccleuch Academy were excited to attend a special Celebration Day at the University of Oxford, marking their involvement in United Learning’s Social Action Programme.
The programme challenges Key Stage 3 students to devise and deliver their own social action projects for the benefit of their local and regional communities. With over 50 schools across United Learning taking part, the project culminates in special Celebration Days at St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, where students present their projects to their peers and get to experience firsthand a day at university.
At Kettering Buccleuch Academy, students decided to focus their project on creating a herb and vegetable garden at the school. The aim was to grow produce that could be used in the students’ food technology lessons, with the end goal being to grow enough to share with the local community.
So far, the project has been a great success. Students are now looking forward to creating an insulation tent for the garden so that they can continue growing over the cold months.
At the Celebration Day, the students were proud to present their project to their peers and enjoyed hearing about what students from the other schools had chosen for their projects. As well as the presentations, students also received a tour of the college and attended a lecture, giving them a taste of life at Oxford.
Esme, a Year 7 student who took part in the project, said:
“I really enjoyed the tour around St Anne’s College. It was my first time visiting a university and it was very inspiring.”
Darcie, another Year 7 student, added:
“The project worked really well as it linked to what we were doing at Eco Club. I am excited to see what we can grow this year.”
Richard Shaw, Principal at Kettering Buccleuch Academy, said:
“Our students have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this year’s Social Action Programme and were excited to have the opportunity to visit the University of Oxford to present their project to their peers. The students’ herb and vegetable garden has been a fantastic addition to KBA and I am proud of our students for their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm for making a positive difference to our school community.”