The School’s motto, non nobis nati (born not for ourselves), sits at the heart of everything we do at St Albans School and our Partnership and Community Link programmes are fundamental to how the School lives and breathes this approach. We greatly value the many partnership and community links we have in St Albans and the surrounding areas.
The mutually beneficial Partnership scheme run by St Albans School along with local Primary and Special Education schools started over fifteen years ago with the aim of sharing expertise, best practice and facilities to the benefit of all the pupils, teachers and schools involved. Since then, the scheme has expanded in many ways. Over eighty-five Lower Sixth pupils assist with Partnership and Community Link activities on a weekly basis. Our Lower Sixth volunteers are vital to the running of these programmes; they assist with Masterclasses, offering teachers an extra pair of hands, run sessions themselves and share their passion for the subject with the younger children who regards them as role models.
Every Friday afternoon, over 100 enthusiastic Primary school pupils get involved in a variety of practical activities at the School. They enjoy the opportunity to use facilities such as our science labs, art studios and computer suites not normally available to them in their own schools and benefit from the guidance of St Albans School teachers and staff, who share their expertise across a variety of areas. Staff in the Drama, Music, Art, Maths, STEM and French departments also travel to local schools where they run classes and share their specialist skills with the children and staff.
Each week pupils from four local Primary Schools use our swimming pool for their swimming lessons.
Click here to read our latest Partnership and Community Link Report 2022/23
Local Community Opportunities
Sixth Form volunteers go out into the community to help in local schools, assisting with a variety of tasks in the classroom and on the sports field. Their assistance is highly valued by the staff in the schools where they volunteer, and it enables our students to develop some of the vital skills relevant for future employment and UCAS applications.
We also have a Book Club project which involves some of our Lower Sixth pupils and the School Librarian leading a weekly Book Club for Year 5 pupils at one of our Partnership schools.
In addition to these Partnership activities, our Sixth Form team work with several state Secondary Schools, sharing knowledge and good practice, as well as practical support to students with the UCAS application process, particularly to Russell Group universities, including Oxbridge.
Our Combined Cadet Force (CCF) has a Partnership with Marlborough Science Academy, training both Cadets and Officers, with a view to them setting up their own Contingent in the future.
Within our Community Link programme, Lower Sixth students have the opportunity to volunteer in Care Homes, Special Schools, and Charity shops. We also run an annual Christmas party for elderly members of the community and one of our art teachers runs an art workshop for residents at a local Care Home.
Read more about our Partnership programme here on the Independent School Council's 'Schools Together' website. This is an initiative supported and maintained by the ISC in collaboration with the Department for Education and the Independent/State Schools Partnership, which highlights the projects and partnerships between independent schools and maintained schools or community groups.
"I really enjoyed working with the same two classes of children throughout the year, as we were able to make a strong bond with the children and get to know their strengths and weaknesses. This, in turn, made it even more rewarding when we saw the children improve over the year and understand things they did not at the beginning. I was also able to return to volunteer in my old primary school, which was particularly enjoyable as it felt even better to be giving back to and helping at a school where I have fond memories."
Sixth Form Partnership Classroom Assistant
"For a number of years, our Primary School has enjoyed a Partnership with St Albans School which has provided enrichment to the Key Stage2 curriculum by exploring certain subjects in more depth, normally unavailable to our pupils. The children have benefited from blocks of lessons by specialist teachers in Art, DT, Drama and French and have developed further interests and skills in these subjects as a result. More recently we have taken full advantage of the new swimming facilities to provide differentiated lessons for Years 3-5 on a termly basis. Sixth Form students from St Albans School have also provided support to our classrooms and PE sessions on a regular basis, not only proving to be particularly helpful but also demonstrating the way excellent role models behave. This Partnership is an extremely valuable asset to our School community."
Partnership School Headteacher