Tonbridge Community Action
All boys are actively involved in projects that enable them to connect with, and feel a part of, the community in Tonbridge, and give their time and effort to support local charitable organisations and fundraising.
Tonbridge Community Action (TCA) is the backbone of our regular partnership programme and sees over 120 boys volunteering weekly throughout the academic year on over twenty projects, many of which are pupil-led.
Many placements are in primary schools, where students work together to help develop a love of reading, work on maths challenges, or help to run after-school club activities in languages, art, music and sport.
Learning Mentors
The Learning Mentor Programme is led by our Learning Strategies Department and has been running for more than a decade. Our Year 9 and 10 boys are trained as mentors, and the training includes developing mentors’ ability to coach younger pupils in numeracy, literacy and communication skills, as well as broadening their understanding of how to support neurodiverse pupils in their learning.
The mentors host weekly visits with children from Royal Rise Primary School. Boys help to teach Year 3 pupils on a one-to-one basis, supporting key areas of the primary curriculum, as well as enrichment activities, including a visit to the Barton Science Centre and Drama workshops in the EM Forster Theatre.
Science for Schools
This popular programme has been running since 2008, with local primary school children visiting the School’s laboratories over a three-week period. The aim is to provide the pupils with an experience that cannot be catered for at primary school and inspire and build the enthusiasm about the prospect of studying STEM subjects at secondary school. Tonbridge boys organise and supervise hands-on activities for the children, who are presented with new, fun and exciting opportunities to learn about science.
Our pupils are trained by our teachers to lead these sessions helping them grow in confidence and growing their leadership skills.
Schools bring an entire class of children at a time, for three consecutive Wednesday afternoon sessions each lasting about an hour and a half.
Community Day
This flagship annual event sees the whole School community come together to work with our local primary schools, further strengthening links and enabling all staff and pupils to be more connected to our local area.
On-site, we welcome more than 600 children from thirteen local primary schools, who are hosted by our Year 9 boys, to enjoy a fantastic day of activities, run by our Sixth Form and staff. Activities range from Art to Zen Zone, Biology to Wheelchair Basketball, aiming to inspire all those involved to try something new. Everyone comes together for a concert from the Symphony Orchestra in the Chapel before a finale which this year saw duck herding on our main cricket pitch, The Head. Meanwhile, our Year 10 and 11 students from each of our 12 Houses undertake a major project off-site in the community. Based in primary schools, local charities and community groups, this year saw them make sensory gardens, build animal enclosures, run sports festivals, create friendship benches and help develop freshwater habitats around the lake in our local Country Park.
