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Community Links

Newcastle School for Boys (NSB) maintain several links with the local community. 

NSB boys entertain our neighbours at Abbeyfield Residential Care Home several times throughout the year. Each Christmas the choir sings for the residents and spends time socialising with them for the afternoon. NSB occasionally does other performances for them, for example boys, have played at a Garden Party to celebrate the institution’s anniversary and also tea parties occasionally. There have also been extended periods of time where our Duke of Edinburgh pupils have entertained the residents each week for an entire term. 

The Charlotte Gardiner Dance Academy uses NSB school hall, dining hall and yard. The academy will give children the opportunity to discover performing arts, including hip-hop, rap, circus skills, stage combat and jazz classes, as well as vocal technique classes. 

Boys who enrol on the Duke of Edinburgh Silver or Gold award volunteer for 6 and 12 months respectively as part of the award. They commit to spend an hour per week working at Abbeyfield Residential Care Home. Abbeyfield' Care Manager supervises the boys’ visits and assesses their contribution. It is hoped that those boys who opt to do this type of work in their Silver award will continue to work at Abbeyfield when they enrol onto their Gold award. In this way Abbeyfield benefit from the continuity and experience that the boys gain over a period of 18 months.

Aims

  • To build links with the wider community.
  • To give our pupils the opportunity to perform.
  • To help our pupils in having empathy towards a different generation and people in care.
  • To show that music can transcend physical and mental barriers and can bring great happiness and comfort to people – both audience and performers alike. 

Resources

  • Time to rehearse in school.
  • School equipment, sheet music, etc. is taken to Abbeyfield when we perform.
  • Usually just one member of staff required.
  • The bigger performances last for around 1 hour 30 minutes, the more regular ones around 30 minutes. 

Pupil Involvement

Years 7 to 13.

Frequency

  • Christmas and summer performances tend to be annual events.
  • Duke of Edinburgh volunteers depends on pupils, but can be regular performances lasting weekly for an entire term.