Congratulations to 53 of our ESOL students, who recently graduated from the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme! Each of the students has a unique story to tell about their background and circumstances..
We’re delighted, and humbled, to see how they’re growing through their studies and support, and completing this challenging programme is a fantastic achievement.
NCS was founded in 2009 to help young people aged 15-17 grow their confidence, develop new skills, and explore opportunities to get involved and serve others through a range of community projects. A big thank you to our partners at Charlton Athletic Community Trust who worked with us to help make the programme such a success.
The programme started with a four-day residential trip to Hindleap Warren with the students working on their teamwork and communication skills through a series of hair-raising outdoor-pursuit challenges including high-ropes, bushcraft, and a long-jump competition into the biggest muddy puddle you could possibly imagine…
With confidence and co-operation levels high, the students returned to College for three days packed with an intensive series of workshops focusing on attitudes, behaviours, presentation skills and community, before heading out into Gillingham to get involved in community and social action projects around the town.
We’re so proud of the work they did to tidy up the local area, raise money to produce care packages for a local shelter, offer time and friendship to those in need, play games with the elderly at a local care home, and paint a mural to brighten up a wall at one of the charities they chose to support.
Maddie Springett, Student Engagement Officer at the College and also NCS cohort leader, said:
“NCS is a brilliant way to support young people and help them achieve their potential. I’ve worked with groups of young people on the programme regularly for the last few years, and each time I’ve seen them grow significantly in their confidence and ability to contribute to community life. It was awesome to see our ESOL students get so involved in their programme. They had a great time away which helped them build strong friendships and meant that they could trust and support each other to deliver some brilliant projects back in Medway. One of the biggest challenges of the programme is what happens afterwards. I can’t wait to see how they kick on from here and get more involved at College and the surrounding area”.
