Connecting with the community

We speak to Neil Wilson, assistant principal for personal development at Waterhead Academy, about how their community initiatives led to them being nominated for a Tes Award and why community is so central to the school’s ethos 

Tell us a little bit about your academy and your role.

We’re an 11-to-16 academy based in the Waterhead area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, and we’re part of the South Pennines Academies Trust. The academy was established in 2010 – an amalgamation of two local schools; we now have approximately 1,350 students on roll. I’m the assistant principal for personal development. I oversee things like PSHE, extracurricular community initiatives – loads of positive, nice things.

Why is community involvement so important to your academy? 

It’s important that our academy plays an integral role within the community, as this is really at the heart of the ethos of our school. It’s also important that our pupils take on the role of being active citizens, as well as thinking about their academic success. We’re here to educate young people about how to be positive active members of society who contribute to the local and wider communities. This enables our students to be role models, not just within our school, but also within the community, and promotes the positivity that young people bring to their local communities. 

I think sometimes negative images are portrayed of young people in the press; we have some amazingstudents in our school – and in schools throughout the country – so it’s important we shine a spotlight on the excellent work they do, and the contributions they make to society. It also encourages students to understand the importance of community and how they can really affect, and make positive impacts within, their local communities and wider society. It also facilitates a range of opportunities for them to work collaboratively with one another and members of staff, and for wider a demographic across society – people they may not come into contact with such as elderly people, people in residential care homes and people in hospitals.

Hopefully, when they go on to progress onto their next stages of education, or training and careers, they can talk about the experiences they’ve had here to help build a wider narrative around their CV. We always say to our young people, ‘Yeah, that’s fantastic. You’ve got these grade nines, you’ve got these excellent grades; what’s going to make you stand out? What are those employers looking for? What are those universities and colleges looking for, and how can you demonstrate those factors?’ 

We begin this process right from Year 7 through to Year 11. We have a wide variety of community and leadership teams among the students, and everybody contributes to the whole school ethos. It generates a really positive atmosphere.

Which community initiatives would you say you’re most proud of achieving?  

I’m really proud of everything we get involved in. I’m so lucky to be in a position where I can help to facilitate these opportunities among my colleagues and students – and it’s not a one-man-band, by any means; I’m just the person who tries and pulls things together. We have a huge buy-in from our staff and students, which is key.

We’ve been involved in a range of initiatives. We support local food banks, homeless centres, the RSPCA and our local Oldham hospital – some of our students designed the entrance to the new Christie Cancer Unit there, and we also work with the neonatal team. We have an extracurricular group called Knitting for Neonates, where the students knit little hats and blankets. That’s something quite personal to me, as well, as it’s something that I’ve experienced and something, again, unique, which the students can do. 

We also work with a range of local residential care homes. Prior to COVID we had a group of students from all year groups who visited; they would go and do a range of activities from knitting, to sewing, to board games – and even playing curling with the residents like they do at the Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, during lockdown, we weren’t able to visit, so the students wrote letters and sent presents so they still continued the communication. 

The students would say things like, ‘Sir, what can we do? We’re aware that some of these elderly residents might not have family, they might not be able to see them. How can we communicate with them?’ So we set-up a system of writing letters and worked towards that. Then, during the Christmas period, we arranged for a group of our carol singers to go and perform in the outside areas where the residents could watch through the windows. It’s very rewarding to see the smiles it brings to their faces; that’s the same feeling and reaction we get across a range of the initiatives we do. 

Listening to all the amazing things you’ve done it’s no surprise, really, that you were shortlisted for a Tes Award for Community and Collaboration. Tell us a bit more about that. 

I was really humbled when we were nominated, and it was a great opportunity for all the students and staff to be recognised for the amazing community work they’d all contributed to. The key word is ‘all’ – like with any school, you need the buy-in, not just from one or two people, you need to have the majority. That’s how we have managed to really drive it forward. The students are really keen; they discuss ideas with us about initiatives they want to do and then we discuss how we can implement them. Especially during the difficult period of the pandemic, I think it gave everyone a positive boost. 

How would you say that focusing more on the community has impacted the academy itself?

Right from the formation of the academy in 2010, we’ve had community front and centre of our ethos; we’ve just grown and evolved from day one. We’ve always encouraged our students to go out there and be active citizens – but we’ve got to provide those opportunities for them to be able to do that, and I’m really proud that we have done so.  

When our students grow and develop into young adults, they can carry on the work, which means the legacy will continue. So, if Neil Wilson moves on from Waterhead Academy, I’m 100% confident there’s a legacy in place that the school will continue to work with the community. As I said, we’ve grown it so that everybody’s involved, and the members of staff who come to work with us understand what we need from them – to really contribute and make a positive impact for our students, and the community as well.

I think in society in general it’s important that we understand that we all play a role in promoting positivity and encouraging people to work together, regardless of age, gender, stereotypes, etc. Now, more than ever, I think it’s important to be proud of our backgrounds, proud of where we’re from, proud of our school, proud of our communities, and proud of the work we do as a school. 

What advice would you give to staff in other schools reading this who are thinking, ‘Wow, that’s something we’d really like to do, but we’re not sure where to start or how best to engage with our community?’

I think there’s a variety of ways. They can just Google the local residential care homes – they always welcome support, as do local hospitals; just literally drop them an email and get in touch. Another thing is sharing best practice among schools; we work collaboratively with a range of schools on a number of different areas. We all want the same thing; we all want the best for our children who attend our schools – so sharing good practice, seeing what’s out there and establishing those links with other schools is key. 

Also, within your teams you’ll have people who may have husbands, wives, relatives who work within certain professions – such as the care services, the NHS, emergency services – who may be able to put you in touch with someone in their sector. For example, we have students whose parents and carers work at the hospital, so we asked them, ‘What can we do to make a difference?’ 

We baked them some cakes and sent them some nice cards to thank them for what they do. It’s important to understand that ‘charity’ doesn’t have to be monetary; a thank you goes a long way. 

When do your students organise and do their community work?

It is a range really; sometimes we do it during lunch, after school or, if we need to, some students and staff give up some weekends to volunteer. I think the school ethos has got to be there to understand the reasons why we are doing it and why it deserves our time. It is key that it’s valued alongside academic success – that, in order to develop a rounded citizen, it’s a balance between the two.  

What are your hopes for working with the community over the next few years? 

I want to continue to work with the partners we already have – to grow and develop those links – and talk to them about how we can continue to support them during these difficult times. 

As we come out of the pandemic we will be thinking about how we can go back and visit the care homes and hospitals to carry on with our work. We’ll be talking to the students about the different things they want to support, and how we can facilitate that. 

Ultimately, we want to carry on building the legacy we’ve already established through all our staff and students. We want new students and staff to know, when they come to Waterhead Academy, that community is at the heart of our ethos. Our ethos is so strong because we understand the benefits, and why we do it. We do it because it’s the right thing to do, it’s our moral compass and, as human beings, it’s what we should be doing. It’s important to stay humble, to stay grounded, and to be positive with other people and support them in any way we can. 

I hope these our students – our changemakers – will become the next generation of leaders to carry on community work and developing strong communities. 

Joanne Rudd, court manager, Violet Hill Court Retirement Living: “Working and building relationships with the pupils and staff from Waterhead Academy has been a pleasure. Seeing residents sharing memories and stories with the pupils and the pupils listening and asking questions and sharing their stories, has benefited both the residents and pupils.”