Charity & Partnerships

Outreach

We think it’s important to teach the children about being a good citizen.  Humility and giving come naturally to our children.

The School Council, with representatives elected from Year 3 upwards, meet regularly.  They represent the pupil voice as well as come up with initiatives to raise money for charity.

Pupils support and raise money for a variety of local and national charities.  Year 6 visit local care homes; our whole school Harvest Festival supports our local Home Start Centre and Liphook Day Centre.

The Guild Award

The Guild’s aim is to develop awareness of the community and encompasses activities and hobbies pupils are involved in outside school.  Achieving the awards gives pupils a sense of satisfaction and achievement.  

Pupils work through three stages:

• Apprentice
• Journeyman
• Master

STEAM Projects with Local Junior Schools

Students from three local junior schools have been working with us in an exciting new STEAM project.  The pupils have all come into Churcher’s to work on a “Bloodhound Project” which involved creating a racing car which is propelled by Co2 canisters to race along a 50m track!  It was part of a national competition and everyone had fantastic fun.  The Junior School pupils were all supported in their project by the staff at Churcher’s but also, more importantly, by our own students who are all keen STEAM Ambassadors!  All the pupils got to experience using specialist equipment, including CAD-CAM technology in the construction on their racing car.

STEAM Projects with Local Secondary Schools

In association with the Royal Academy of Engineering and Young Engineers Churcher’s has established itself as a Hub for local state secondary schools to come together and work on STEAM projects.  In this year’s project eight schools have worked on the exciting Drone Attack Project. Schools were all supplied with a drone which they had to deconstruct and rebuild, using K Nex, to meet a set of challenges in an exciting competition.  Schools also took part in the fantastic Energy Quest and ANTWEIGHT challenges.

Churcher’s College Swim School

We are very fortunate to have a fantastic onsite indoor swimming pool and we are delighted to be able to share this with our local Junior and Primary Schools. We have four schools who currently use the pool on a regular basis. We value swimming as a key life skill and it is a pleasure for us to be able to support the development of swimming with as many children as possible.

Combined Cadet Force Partnership

Our CCF contingent has been running for many years and is well established as a key feature of our provision.  We see our students benefit greatly from what it offers to them and we are keen to widen the access to this opportunity.  From September 2017 we are establishing ourselves as an official Partnership School and are delighted to have students from a local Secondary School joining our CCF. Our students will benefit greatly from this partnership as will our partner school.

United World Schools

Churcher’s have made a significant commitment to United World Schools.  We have been partnered with UWS Mude School in Nepal since 2015. This ongoing commitment includes the provision of resources and funding to help the school develop and prosper.

Herne Junior School Link

We have been working with Herne for a number of years.  Up to fifteen sixth formers on a Wednesday afternoon to share their strengths and interests with the younger students. We have had Music, Latin, Spanish, German, French, PE, Chess, English and Maths and Art.  They are assigned a small group, 3-4 pupils usually from years 5 and 6.

Regular Partnership Work

Away from our major outreach projects we also have a number of ongoing activities which we open to our local state schools.  Example of this may include:

• Inviting Sixth Form College’s to academic lectures
• Specialist language teachers visiting local primary schools
• Teaching emergency first aid to local schools
• Offering specialist sports sessions and to local primary and junior schools.

Community Outreach Projects

Whilst sharing our educational resources is a priority we are also keen to support our wider community and we have very much enjoyed working on a number of projects. The nature of our community outreach work is very varied but some key are examples are detailed below.

Petersfield Heath Pond Path Building

Around 250 pupils involved in the three phase project from 2012 to present and a total level of funding at around £8,000.00 has been donated by the College.  We have worked in partnership with The Petersfield Society and Friends of Petersfield Heath and Petersfield Society. For the project Friends of Petersfield Heath provided expertise and know-how and we provided man-power and the funding.

Gloucester Court, Petersfield

We have had a strong relationship with Gloucester Court for a number of years.  Our Sixth Form students will regularly visit, working in partnership with Radian Housing Association, to engage with the residents and entertain with activities such as music and art.

Dead Hedge at Petersfield Heath Pond Car Park

This project has involved 48 pupils and Churcher’s has provided funding at £1,200.00.  We have worked in partnership with The Petersfield Society and Friends of Petersfield Heath. In association with Friends of Petersfield Heath we are creating 100 meters of Dead Hedge around the car park at West Sussex Road. This will benefit the wildlife and give an attractive edge to the car park.

Remembrance Parade and Concert in Petersfield

The College has a long standing commitment to support this very important day within the town.  We provide the Sound System in the Town Square and at the War Memorial we provide all the equipment and staffing to facilitate the event.  CCF contingent marches through the town and provide a focus to the service whilst music for the outdoor service is provided by the school Wind Band.  Churcher’s also host an annual Remembrance Concert in St Peter’s Church.  This event is open to the public and all proceeds go to the British Legion.

Save the Children Concert

For many years the college has supported this fantastic event.  We provide the location, all technical equipment and support along with the all-important refreshments for guests and the wonderful musicians!  Our Community Liaison Officer works as a link between the three other schools and with Save the Children event organisers.  This not only supports a very worthy cause but also celebrates the collaboration between a number of schools.

Butser Hill Challenge

A key date in the school calendar is the Butser Hill Challenge.  We are the lead sponsor of the event which raises money for local charities.  Working in association with the even organisers, Portsmouth Runners, the Butser Hill Challenge sees entreats of all ages taking on the formidable task!  The college provides logistics for the race to including music from our fantastic Rock Band.

Regular Local Charity Facility Users

Whilst we support an ever growing number of charities the following organisations use the school’s facilities on a regular basis:

• Butser Home Start
• RNLI
• McMillan Cancer
• Petersfield and District Scouts

We are also involved in working with a number of other community groups, some of which are listed below:

• Petersfield Cricket Club
• Petersfield Rugby Club
• Petersfield Hockey Club
• Alton and District Swim Club
• Sheet Scouts
• Petersfield Scouts
• Petersfield Triathlon Club
• Portsmouth and District Synchronised Swim Club
• Southern Sportive

The Charities Committee

The Charities Committee within the school is very active with decisions and nominated charities being decided on by the students.  Below provides a flavour of the charities supported in the past.  It’s also important to consider the ripple effect; the funds that are generated secondary following our funding of events such as The Butser Hill Challenge.

• United World Schools
• Royal British Legion
• Action Medical Research
• Save The Children
• Canine Partners