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Students from around globe visit Samworth Church Academy

Posted onPosted on 24th Jun

Samworth Church Academy welcomed an extra 180 students from 17 schools around the world to its roll for a week as it hosted the prestigious Round Square Global Conference.

The Round Square is a network of around 200 innovative schools in 50 countries across six continents.

At its heart is a shared approach to learning built around six ideals based on the theories of education philosopher Kurt Hahn — Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service.

Principal Lisa McVeigh welcomed guests to the opening ceremony from Denmark, Pakistan, Peru, India, Canada, South Korea, Armenia, Germany, Bangladesh, Tanzania and Argentina before explaining Samworth’s role in Round Square.

“As a state school we have enjoyed a special relationship with Gordonstoun since 2008 and with Round Square since 2011, becoming a full global member in 2016,” she said.

“Supported by our generous Opportunity Trust, our students have travelled the world representing their academy and community, and we feel truly blessed to be a part of the Round Square family.

It is an honour to welcome our friends from all over the globe and to build strong ties with schools across continents.”

Angela Owen, a teacher at Samworth Church Academy and leader of Learning Outside the Classroom, was, with colleagues, responsible for organising the sizeable global meet.

“The international conference was a huge success,” she said. “I was apprehensive about how we would fit 180 visitors from 17 schools from nine different countries into our school, alongside the other 1,200 students we have here at the academy. But it worked really well, and our academy students made the visiting delegates feel so welcome.”

During the conference, international students and those from the academy enjoyed a range of shared activities.

Angela added: “Our student leadership team planned some fantastic icebreaking activities for the delegates, which meant that within the first few hours they had already made new friends and felt happy and comfortable in their new environment.

“They worked on a beautiful collaborative art project, which we now have hanging in the reception area of the academy as a memory.

“The opening ceremony gave our very talented students the opportunity to show off their dancing, singing and acting skills to the world, it was a very impressive performance.”

During the opening event the keynote speaker was Jamie Andrew, a Scottish mountaineer who, despite having no hands and feet, has made ascents all over the world.

During the week students headed off to Cheshire to take part in a bush craft camp, pausing for a short visit to Chatsworth House.

The conference closed with a disco and before leaving students were able to take part in archery, laser shooting, high ropes, climbing and dancing at the academy’s facilities.

Krishna Gaur 13, from The Punjab Public School, said on the last day he and his friends were due for a dance class with Samworth dance students, but it turned into an impromptu display of their own dancing skills.

“We love Punjabi dance and we wanted to teach the students here what we like. We have had a fantastic week, full of adventures,” he said.

“We like the school very much and we have actually enjoyed everything we have done here.”
Samworth student Jessica Marshall, 17, said it had been an unexpected treat for her fellow dance students.

“It’s amazing, we were going to teach these students some dance moves and they ended up showing us their dancing,” she said. “It’s been a real highlight of the week.

“The Round Square has given us all so many opportunities and I have travelled the world as a delegate to New York, South Africa, Pennsylvania and soon I am off to India. It’s a great opportunity that Samworth Church Academy has offered us, and I have learnt so much being a part of it.”

Angela said both her colleagues at the academy, and her international counterparts and students, had made powerful and lasting impressions on each other.

“When the time came to say goodbye, it was quite tearful because both staff and students had made friends for life with people from all over the world,” she added.