Sponsored Editorial

Sandwich Technology School are acutely aware of the pressures that young people are facing are ever changing and they felt as a school they needed an opportunity for their students to discuss pastoral issues that may have impacted their current and future lives.

In light of this students engaged in a non-curriculum day during the last term of the academic year. The school welcomed external providers to return to school to give valuable presentations, workshops and performance to their students.

You don’t have to look far into the news to see heart-breaking stories of young people taking risks with drug use, gang involvement and knife use. The number of cases of self-harm and suicide in young people is on the rise.

The figures for young people out of employment need to be reduced. The obesity rate in youth is increasing. They used this whole school event to highlight and address these issues head on with their students.

The day included the annual 10 mile sponsored pledge walk from STS to Sandown Castle in Deal and back by their Year 7 Students, all of the sponsorship goes to support local charities.

Year 8 and 9 students took part in a variety of positive mental health activities, inter college cricket and rounders matches, yoga and mindfulness sessions. Followed by inspirational presentations from The Amy Winehouse Foundation and Dover District Council's Impact Roadshow visited, IMPACT stood for “I’m making positive action choices today.”

Their sessions conveyed essential and positive messages concerning mental health, and encouraged young people to support each other and build their personal resilience through the choices they make. Throughout the day the students heard moving real life stories about the impact of drug misuse and homelessness and were educated on topics including hate crime, resilience, self-belief and online safety.

The Rah Rah Theatre carried out drama workshops focusing on communication skills with their Year 10 students. They also benefited from a variety of external providers sharing information on the opportunities available to them including workshops and presentations from Sixth Form Leaders, local colleges and apprenticeship providers to ensure their students have high expectations for their future and are inspired to achieve their goals.

The day was met with great excitement from the students and the school leaders received great feedback from pupils and parents alike. A parent commented that their child had opened up to them after the day in ways that they had never done so before. Mrs Savage praised her staff team and the visiting practitioners for their dedication to ensuring student’s mental and physical health is well supported at Sandwich Technology School.

If you are considering Sandwich Technology School for your child’s secondary education, they warmly invite you to join them at one of their open events taking place at the below dates.

- Thursday 14 September: 6-8pm
- Friday 15 September: 10-12 noon
- Thursday 19 October: 6-8 pm
- Friday 20 October: 10-12 noon