Students Pay it Forward on Community Action Day

Every year, as part of Activity Week, Thursday is set aside for one of the most meaningful days on the Scarborough College calendar: Community Action Day.

It is a day when all the Senior School students step beyond the school and out into the local community of which the College is so proudly a part, giving their time, energy and enthusiasm to projects that make a genuine difference. This year was no exception.

Across Scarborough, students took part in a range of initiatives designed to support local charities, community organisations and the environment. Some spent the day litter picking on the South Cliff and on a local beach, helping to protect some of Scarborough’s most loved public spaces and playing their part in keeping our coastline clean. For a school with a strong outdoor and environmental ethos – seen clearly in initiatives such as our Surf Academy and planting our wild flower meadow – caring for the local coastline is a natural extension of what we do.

Others worked with the Grave Angels project, weeding and clearing foliage from graves so that families can once again see the headstones of loved ones and ancestors. It is a simple but poignant act of service, and one that Scarborough College students support at various points throughout the year.

At The Rainbow Centre, students helped the local foodbank by stocktaking, sorting and organising donations, supporting the practical day-to-day work of this vital community resource. Elsewhere, another group spent time at local community centre The Street, helping to maintain and develop its community garden.

Community Action Day is just one day in the year, but it reflects a much wider culture of service and engagement at Scarborough College.

The College has long-standing links with local charities and organisations, including The Rainbow Centre, which is also the recipient of our annual Christmas toy appeal. Students regularly volunteer across the region through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, reading in local schools and nurseries, litter picking and supporting charity shops. We also work closely with local primary schools, opening up access to our sports facilities and specialist coaching, with staff including Director of Rugby Mr Ben Foden actively involved in outreach work.

This commitment to service is also closely connected to the global IB Diploma Programme, and in particular its CAS component, which stands for Creativity, Activity, Service. CAS encourages our Sixth Form students to look beyond themselves, engage with the world around them and take meaningful action to improve it. At Scarborough College, that can mean anything from running creative writing workshops and dance sessions in school, to organising public events such as TEDx conferences or fundraising initiatives for local and national charities.

Community Action Day is a reminder that education is about more than academic success alone. It is about developing young people who are outward-looking, compassionate and ready to make a positive contribution to the world around them. Through opportunities like these, Scarborough College students are learning not only how to succeed, but how to serve others – and in doing so, how to help build a better and fairer society.

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