Tonbridge Grammar School: Making a difference in the local community

All pupils at Tonbridge Grammar School (TGS) are to spend a day volunteering for local projects. 

Today (Wednesday, 17th October 2012) there will be no lessons taking place at TGS. 

Instead students and staff will be taking part in local community projects. 

Mrs Jayne Needham, Assistant Head Teacher at TGS said: 'We are really excited by this new initiative. 

'The aim is to broaden our students' outlook on the range and variety of worthy causes within the local community, encouraging them to become more involved whilst developing their own skills.'

Local primary schools and charities have welcomed the scheme and will be engaging the TGS volunteers in activities such as gardening, painting, making educational resources, surveying footpaths and entertaining older members of the community. 

Sarah Wetz, Deputy Head Teacher of Chiddingstone Church of England School, said: 'We are delighted to be a part of this project. 

'We are looking forward to welcoming the TGS students who will be working on creating a sensory garden.'

Sheelagh Smith, Associate and Co-Founder of Launch, a charity for learning disabilities and impairments, said: 'We are so pleased that Year 11 students will be giving up their time to design a website for us. Their efforts will really make a difference.'

TGS students will be involved in 42 different local projects on the day as well as various activities which will be taking place within school. 

The day helps to mark the move to the IB Diploma Programme within the school. Although TGS has been offering the International Baccalaureate for a number of years, 2012 is the first time that applicants to the Sixth Form have been offered it exclusively. 

Part of the international ethos of the IB Diploma Programme is that students develop a greater understanding of their responsibilities to the local community and the world in which they live.