NCS Champion School

NCS Champion School

We were delighted to welcome Anna Nicholls and Susan Hartley-Raven from the National Citizen Service (NCS) to Assembly on Monday 28 November 2016.  They were here to award the school with NCS 'Champion School' status.  Farnborough Hill is the first independent school to achieve this accolade.

NCS is a government backed youth citizenship programme that builds the skills and confidence of 15–17 year olds to help them get ahead in work and life. NCS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, open to all 15–17 year olds across England.  The scheme takes place over four weeks during the summer holidays and includes a week of physical activities, a week developing skills and two weeks working on a social action project.  

Last year 18 of our Year 11 students took part in this programme.  They spent a week on the Gower Peninisula taking part in a variety of water sports and similar activities.  Their second week was at Norman Court School near Salisbury (NCS summer base) for practical skills training such as budgeting, cooking and sports coaching.  The final two weeks brought experiences into focus with a social action project. For example Jennie (12BRT) described her group's work for Make-A-Wish during this two week phase and was part of a team who raised over £1500 for this worthy cause.

An NCS Champion School is a school that embraces NCS into their ethos by making it the default activity for either all of their Year 11 or Year 12 pupils, or both. They do not mandate but strongly encourage participation in NCS by taking a strong role in promoting NCS to pupils, parents and teachers.  With our increasing commitment to the scheme evidenced by the fact that 33 Year 11 students have already signed up for Summer 2017, the NCS has recognised Farnborough Hill's engagement in the programme with this award.

Mr Forrest-Biggs, Head of Year 11 (pictured above with Anna Nicholls, Mrs Neil and Susan Hartley-Raven) said of the NCS 'It is a fantastic thing for the girls.  It builds their confidence, gives them an opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and is a chance to do something for their local community.'