Personal Development

Leadership and Development Skills

Development skills are an essential aspect of our Sixth Form. All students are given a number of areas of responsibility around the campus in order to develop their organisational, social and leadership skills.

Each year, two members of the Upper Sixth are elected Headboy and Headgirl. Through their responsibilities, they help to facilitate the smooth running of our School. Other members of the Sixth Form and Year 11, acting as prefects, form a link of communication between the pupils and adults of the School. Students are also able to assume responsibilities within the respective Houses in terms of Sports Captain or House Captain and our boarders are expected to play different roles in the  boarding houses.
 
Services to the Community
We encourage our students to think of others within the community. Each year, a number of events are organised to raise money for local, national and international charities. 

Duke of Edinburgh Award
The award has been run at St. James' School for a number of years and has had much success at all three levels. Below is a breakdown of each award and examples of the pupils' involvement.
All three awards comprise of four elements, skills, sport, helping others and an expedition for different amounts of time depending on the level of entry.

Bronze Award
This is intended for students in year 9 and comprises of 3 months work on two of the elements and 6 months on another element. The expedition takes the form of a one night camp in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Silver Award
This is intended for students in year 10 or 11 and comprises of 6 months work on two of the elements and 3 months on another element. The expedition takes the form of a two night camp in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Gold Award
This is intended for students in year 12 and 13 and comprises of 6 months work on two of the three elements and 12 months on the other element. The expedition takes the form of a three night camp in the Lincolnshire Wolds. A requirement for gold is a four night stay at a residential centre.
As part of their “helping others” element, the majority of our students help in the Preparatory school, with after school clubs or activities. For the skill, a lot of our students play a musical instrument or sing in the choir. For the sporting activity we have had students taking part in karate, rugby, football and many others, either organised by the school or part of a club outside of school hours.

I feel that the award gives students a sense of pride and shows commitment, reliability and helps with their teamwork. It also develops their citizenship and it is a real plus being able to put the award on their CV.

The award can be started in September and finished during the course of the year, the preparation for the expedition is done at the Duke of Edinburgh Centre at Heneage Road and starts at the beginning of March, with the expedition taking place in May or June.

More information:
Florence Lambert (Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator at St James School) 01472 503260

WEBLINK:
www.theaward.org