Teddies Collaborates

As a city school, we have the unique opportunity to open the doors into the real world and show our young people what possibilities exist outside the School gates for them to learn, develop, and contribute.

In September 2022, Teddies Collaborates was launched. Through a restructuring of the timetable, each of our 180 Lower Sixth pupils has a dedicated and sustainable time slot each week to benefit from the service opportunities. This year students are working with over 20 schools, charities and local organisations in a range of roles including social media management, events planning and academic enrichment activities for primary school children. 

 Teddies Collaborates follows the IB principles:

1) Investigation

Our pupils have been given a choice of which organisations they would like to work with. 

2) Preparation

All pupils have completed a six week training course before they began their placements. This training was delivered by internal and external partners and included: 

• What do I expect and what is expected of me? 
• Social enterprise: How charitable businesses operate and how can my role add value? 
• Safeguarding and first aid in the workplace. 
• Narrating your own story and learning coping strategies to enable you to complete it. 
• Cultural awareness, mitigation and support. How do I handle difficult or unusual situations?
• Risk assessment and personal impact evaluation.

3) Action 

Pupils will be supported throughout their year-long placement by the Partnerships team, HMs, Tutors and through the new wellbeing curriculum. 

4) Reflection

ImpactEd is an award-winning social enterprise that supports schools and educational organisations to evaluate their impact, learn from it, and prioritise what is working best to improve outcomes for young people. All our pupils have completed an evaluation survey at the beginning of the year and will be assessed again at the end of their experience. This data will be aligned with national statistics providing valuable intelligence for our pupils about their development throughout the year. Our partnership with ImpactEd is also extended to five state schools who feel they could benefit from using their technology free of charge. 

5) Demonstration

On the completion of the first year of this programme, our Impact Report will contain statistical data from both our pupils and partners to help shape our programme in the future.