Outwood Academy Acklam opens its doors to the community

Outwood Academy Acklam has opened its doors to the local community for an afternoon tea. Students, staff and governors at the school hosted the event, which was attended by residents and staff from St Mary’s Care Home and The Willows Care Home, with local police officer PCO Annabel Allison also in attendance.

Over 40 guests enjoyed the afternoon tea, which was served with sandwiches, savoury snacks, cakes, and hot drinks, while spending time socialising with students and staff. Students provided musical entertainment, playing instruments including guitar, saxophone, drums and keyboard, before the school’s Student Prime Minister, Lucas Mowbray led a game of bingo! 

Lucas said:

“It was so rewarding and inspirational to get to know all the amazing people from the care homes. I got some great advice and learnt a lot just by listening to their amazing life stories.”

The idea for the event came directly from the school’s student voice council as a response to difficulties they faced in trying to secure volunteering opportunities within the community. In efforts to forge stronger community links, they decided to host an event within school hours.

Sarah Haigh, assistant principal at the school, said:

“It's been a true pleasure to host an event that so directly impacted the health and wellbeing of our local community, raising spirits and forging strong links. Observing the way our students connected with residents, listening to their invaluable advice and wonderful stories, was a genuine privilege.”

Stacey Coleman, chair of governors at Outwood Academy Acklam, added:

“I was delighted to be invited to attend the academy’s first community afternoon tea. I engaged with almost every resident and staff member from the local care homes that had been invited, and the positivity of how excited they were to be in the school was so, so rewarding.

“We are an academy that is passionate about inclusion, especially within our community, and that shone through every single student that attended, chatted to the residents and gave entertainment. I can't wait for the next one!”

The school is already planning their next community event, which will be a Christmas party in December.