Twelve of our Year 9 students were selected by Miss Stanley to participate in this year’s Respect Project which is voluntarily run by The Essex Boys & Girls Club in Chelmsford.

The project started in September and was run over two initial activity days held at Stubbers Activity Centre in Upminster; these two days are a bit like the X-Factor boot camp - if you do well on the first day, you are picked to go through to the second day!  After the second activity day, four students were selected to further progress on the course and are currently attending an eight week life skills course on a Monday evening; these sessions cover self-respect, personal challenges, relationship management, teamwork, leadership, communication skills and decision making. 

The project culminates with a week away in the Peak District for those students who have demonstrated the necessary qualities after the life skills course finishes – we wish our students lots of luck in being selected to participate in that week.

Bobby Davis said, ‘On the first day, we took part in water sports and rock climbing – it was really fun!  Five of us were invited back to the second day where we tried tunnelling and crate-stacking.  I am lucky enough to be attending the life skills session on a Monday evening.  I am really happy that I was chosen for this project and am excited about the prospect of being invited to the week away in the Peak district.’

Jack Dawson said, ‘On our first day at Stubbers we tried rafting, which was really fun and then rock climbing after lunch.  The second day was the best and I had the most fun then because I took part in tunnelling – this was the best activity.  I enjoyed taking part in many fun activities and was pleased to have been picked.’