30 | SUMMER HOLIDAYS | SCHOOL LIFE
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER
The summer holidays off er a wealth of opportunities for developing new skills and expanding horizons, as the experiences of students at Taunton School last year demonstrate
A survey undertaken by Taunton School has revealed that older students undertook an amazing diversity of activities – both paid and unpaid – during their summer holidays. This breadth of holiday activities would no doubt ignite the envy of many people among their parents’ generation and has certainly delighted Taunton School head, Dr John Newton. “Some of our students are quite modest about their achievements, so the results of this survey have been really revealing,” he says. “I was incredibly proud to learn how imaginative and ambitious they are in their own time.” While a number of his pupils have
already demonstrated entrepreneurial talents – some have even used the long vacation to start up small companies – Dr Newton is keen to encourage parents to do what they can to help their children become self-suffi cient. “It is so important for them to develop practical skills and be able to generate some money independently,” he says. “Investing in a catering course, for example, may open up a useful income stream to supplement their student loans when they are at university. “One of my own daughters learned how
to do painting and decorating during one of her school holidays, which has proved to be incredibly valuable to her. “Teenagers with time on their hands tend to enjoy it much more if they do something worthwhile with it. I think it’s
CASE STUDY: ABIGAIL MCHARDY, YEAR 12
I made some money waitressing and cleaning in a local B&B. I wanted to start earning my own money and this was good for me. Most rewarding, however, was volunteering to help collect food for the Food Bank in Taunton. The idea came from my gran, who was already working there. I helped my gran to collect lots of food to go to the centre. It was amazing to be a part of such a good cause that has such a huge impact on people. I honestly found it a very humbling experience and it made me feel good to help people in need.
a real crime for them to be bored when there are so many fabulous opportunities just waiting to be grabbed.” The survey results showed that the
main motivator for many young people considering summer activities was the chance to earn money. Paid jobs ranged from farm work to engineering, retail to secondhand car sales, with wages often being saved to go towards driving lessons or a hoped-for gap year. However, a large number took the
opportunity to volunteer and help others, with activities ranging from working on community radio or teaching sports such as riding or sailing for the disabled to helping elderly neighbours with gardening, staffi ng a local food bank or running a church café. Almost all those surveyed had
organised some kind of volunteering work for themselves, fl ying in the face of recent claims made by Nick Hurd – the minister responsible for the government’s National Citizenship Service for 16- and 17-year-olds – that public school children need to “get out of their towers” and do more volunteering. More ambitious projects included
building houses for the poor in Peru, working in orphanages in Malawi, Ethiopia and Haiti, put ing on a benefi t concert to raise funds for a village school in Kenya and volunteering for the Libyan Women’s Forum. Interesting life lessons have
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48