Every Tuesday, weather permitting, some of our Year 10 students visit a local apiary to help look after bees.

At the moment we are feeding the bees as they prepare for the winter ahead. The bees will be forming a cluster, gradually moving up the hives as they consume the honey stores. We are also removing the queen excluder so that the queen bee does not get stranded from the rest of the colony. We’ll also be helping to make sure the hives are well ventilated and insulated to keep the bees warm over the winter!

Looking after the bees is just one of the Year 10 and 11 enrichment activities that take place every Tuesday afternoon which is set aside for students to try out some new activities by exploring and developing interests outside of the classroom.

There are three different categories to choose from:

Volunteering and Charitable Opportunities – for example through either the Caring Choir, Ealing Park Rangers, helping out at the Honey and Grape Farm, Minimus (teaching Latin at a local primary school), independent volunteering , working on Duke of Edinburgh awards and with the Eco Reps.

Skills – including engineering, film making, photography, sewing, Europa and working towards the Silver Crest Award.

Sport – the current choices include rowing, squash plus strength and conditioning training. Students are also able to help out with younger pupils’ PE lessons.

We’ve had some great feedback from our Year 11 students on their enrichment activities this term. Here’s what some of them had to say:

On Minimus: “I enjoyed being able to share a subject I’m passionate about with younger students. I found teaching them a very enriching opportunity.”

On singing at the care homes: “I found singing at care homes really fufilling because I could see the immediate effect it had on the people there. It made me happy to bring other people joy by singing with my peers.”

On sewing: “I liked how the first lesson was spent learning the basics, then we were given the freedom do what we wanted, including personal projects like altering clothes. I loved how I managed to make clothes from car boot sales fit me perfectly!”