Year 11 students at Compass School have helped to raise over £1,000 for chosen charities in Southwark as part of a social action project.
Students have been working on their projects since Year 10 and have raised awareness for a range of issues affecting our community including mental health, domestic violence and youth suicide, working with Bede House amongst other charities.
Our students have also engaged with the political process through their work with Papyrus, supporting prevention in youth suicide.
They have started a petition to the UK Government and Parliament website to campaign for a change in the law on how suicide verdicts are reached and were able to meet their local MP, Neil Coyle, in Parliament Square.
Our students were delighted when Mr. Coyle returned the visit last week by coming to Compass School to discuss these matters with them.
Mr. Coyle complimented our students and stated that it was ‘Great to see so many young people engaged on such important issues’.
Pupils engaged in fantastic discussions and listened attentively to Neil Coyle’s thoughts including what government can do to support mental health programmes for young people.
One Year 11 student commented that “This was a great experience. We got to see a new side to our MP, speaking personally and sensitively about a topic that isn’t often openly discussed.”
Speaking about the event, our Principal Marcus Huntley said: “It was a pleasure hosting Neil Coyle and hearing him speak passionately, and at times movingly about mental health and youth suicide.”
Compass School is a 600 place free school in Southwark for pupils aged 11-16. Its mission statement is “Everyone in the Compass School Community will confidently reach the destination to which they aspire”.
To find out more about our school, we have open mornings running through October.
To find out more, please visit: www.compass-schools.com