News, Press and PR

The Bourne Academy was chosen to host a group of celebrities visiting from BBC Radio 4 last night. Jay Rayner and the BBC came to Bournemouth to launch a new series of the popular panel programme ‘The Kitchen Cabinet,’  featuring experts Dr Annie Gray, specialist in the history of British food, Tim Hayward self-confessed food geek, Sophie Wright,  a self-employed chef and food writer and Tim Anderson, Masterchef winner 2011.

The audience, who bagged tickets on the BBC website, were given the opportunity to put their food questions to the panel and they were delighted with the responses. There was a real emphasis on local food history and the evening included plenty of good-humored conversation about cooking and eating.

Students from the Bourne Academy Media and Food Departments were carefully selected to help on the evening – they were involved with set up, sound, cabling and wiring, food questions, audience participation, hosting the celebrities etc.   They were extremely proud to have had that level of work experience with the BBC.

There was a fantastic lighthearted atmosphere and this was great opportunity to show case The Bourne Academy.  Vicky Spence, Lettings Administrator for the Academy said ‘It was a pleasure to be contacted by the agent for BBC Radio 4 The Kitchen Cabinet and to be able to help them secure a venue for the show.’ The Bourne Academy offers state of the art facilities available for community lettings and private hire.

The show will air on Saturday 30th June at 10.30am and will be repeated on Tuesday 3rd July at 3pm.

As part of a campaign to generate support for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) charity, His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex visited Canford School, The Bourne Academy’s sponsor school, on 13^th and 14^th June 2018. Through a combination of DofE engagements His Royal Highness will enable a new generation of young people to start their DofE journey in the UK and abroad.

As part of the visit, His Royal Highness chatted to the pupils from The Bourne Academy and Canford. Both schools deliver the DofE and Canford is an official DofE Licensed Organisation.  The Earl heard about the pupils experiences of DofE and what they have gained from doing their Award.  Currently at The Bourne Academy, 81 students have been involved in the programme so far (Six Gold Award participants, 56 Silver and 20 Bronze).  In May, former Bourne Academy student, Sophie Eaton, attended a presentation at Buckingham Palace where, in the presence of HRH The Countess of Wessex, she received her Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.  The Academy’s Deputy Head, Carol Harrison, was also invited in recognition of the Academy’s active involvement in the South West Region.

Mark Avoth, who accompanied the students on the visit said:

“I was truly proud to accompany our Gold DofE participants to our sponsor Canford School whilst they met and chatted with HRH The Earl of Wessex as part of his two day visit.  Our students had just returned from their Gold DofE expedition, paddleboarding in Scotland, and have the honour of being first group from the South West region to achieve this. Our students spoke to His Royal Highness with great enthusiasm about their journey of self-discovery over the last 12-18 months whilst undertaking their Award.  We are delighted to work so closely with Canford School on so many initiatives, this being one of them – both our schools work diligently to promote resilience, independence and ambition.  Our students should be extremely proud of their achievements.”

Canford Headmaster Ben Vessey commented:

“We were delighted to welcome colleagues and pupils from The Bourne Academy to our meeting with His Royal Highness this afternoon.  Staff from both schools have collaborated regularly over the development and running of the courses to ensure that we offer the best possible support to our young people as they undertake these very rewarding DofE challenges.”​

For young people aged 14-24, doing a DofE programme offers a unique opportunity to grow as young adults and gain valuable life experience whilst developing essential employability skills such as confidence, resilience and drive. After achieving an Award the journey doesn’t end and many Award holders go on to continue volunteering, honing skills or improving their fitness.

Heather Thompson, DofE Regional Director in the South West said:  “As a DofE Charity Trustee and Gold Award holder, HRH The Earl of Wessex is passionate about supporting young people to reach their potential, whatever their background or circumstance.  We are grateful for his dedication to the Charity and taking on this fundraising challenge. HRH’s support, and the generosity of so many local partners, will help us extend our reach and work towards our ambition of all young people having the opportunity to do their DofE.”

About the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is the world’s leading youth achievement award that is currently helping over 430,000 young people to develop for life and work in the UK. In 2017/2018, over 275,000 young people started a DofE programme, including over 60,000 from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Founded by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, the DofE is currently being delivered in 10,014 DofE centres such as schools, youth clubs and prisons, supported by over 3,000 partner organisations and approximately 40,000 adult volunteers from all walks of life.

In total, over six million people have participated in DofE programmes in the UK and achieved over 2.8 million Awards since 1956. In 2016/2017, 142,961 achieved a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

The DofE is supported by UK employers including Amey, St. James’s Place, Tarmac, British Gas, DFS, Heathrow and RSM who endorse the skills and attributes developed whilst doing a DofE programme such as resilience, commitment, self-motivation and team working.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a Registered Charity No 1072490 and in Scotland No SC038254 and a Royal Charter Corporation RC000806

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation is a Registered Charity in England and Wales, No 1072453. There are more than one million young people currently participating globally in 141 countries and territories.

Last week, former Bourne Academy student, Sophie Eaton, attended a presentation at Buckingham Palace where, in the presence of HRH The Countess of Wessex, she received her Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award from celebrity presenters, Mary Berry and Warwick Davis. 

During the Gold Award Presentation, Sophie had a chance to sharing her experiences with HRH The Countess of Wessex, Trustee for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE). HRH took the opportunity to congratulate former Bourne Academy student on her successes and heard about her DofE journey, which took 12-18 months of hard work and dedication.

Those who achieve a Gold DofE Award must volunteer, learn a new skill, get fit, take part in a week long residential and plan and undertake an expedition in wild country. Widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people, DofE programmes enable any young person, aged 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work, such as confidence, commitment and team working.             

Vice Principal, Carol Harrison, also attended the presentation as special guest of the South West Region; she was able to see Sophie receive her Gold Award.  Mrs Harrison said, “It was with great pride that I attended the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We were invited guests of the Duke of Edinburgh South West Regional office. Sophie’s Gold award is a first for a student from The Bourne Academy and represents hard-work and commitment. Her award was presented by HRH The Countess of Wessex and real royalty, Mary Berry! The Academy has a fantastic Physical Education and Outdoor Education department, which, along with a large number of staff, volunteers its time to support students on their Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. This year we have 21 Bronze award participants, 60 Silver and five Gold; we hope they will all be inspired by Sophie’s success.”

Speaking about her DofE experience, Sophie said, “It was amazing to hear all the other people’s stories of what they did for their DofE. There were members of the royal family speaking at the awards ceremony and then guest presenters such as Mary Berry and Warwick Davis who presented the certificates. It was an incredible day! I think DofE is an amazing opportunity and I would encourage anyone to go and do it! We had an awesome time on our expedition, exploring new places from the water - the award looks brilliant on a CV, which is a bonus. It’s a great chance to try something new with friends and a good excuse for an adventure!”

The Bourne Academy’s ‘Bourne to Paddle’ project gets DofE’s Diamond funding.

The Bourne Academy is delighted to announce that it has received a grant from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s (DofE) Diamond fund. The fund will enable the The Bourne Academy to support students from all backgrounds, who would like to participate in the DofE awards scheme. The grant will support The Bourne Academy’s ‘Bourne to Paddle’ project. 

Through The Bourne Academy’s Bourne to Paddle project, students will develop life-changing skills such as communication, resilience and teamwork; create new friendships, and gain the confidence to reach their potential. Mr. James Short from The Bourne Academy says ‘Since we started the Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award at The Bourne Academy, we have witnessed participants change character for the better. Students that were lost and really did not know themselves have turned into confident, hardworking students with a love for their community, sports, learning new things and the great outdoors. This was achieved through completing the 4 sections of their DofE Awards, Volunteering, Physical, Skill and Expedition. The grant money donated by the Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award will help more of our students gain access to the Award by allowing us to run all 4 sections in house with our own kit and qualified staff’.

Through its Diamond fund, the DofE will be investing a total of £3 million over the next four years to increase the number of disadvantaged young people starting their DofE from 50,000 per year to 70,000 by 2021. The £3 million is made up of £1.5 million raised by over 15,000 supporters in the DofE’s Diamond Anniversary year (2016), £1 million from the #iwill fund for England, a joint initiative from The National Lottery and Department of Culture, Media & Sport, and additional DofE donations to double Diamond Anniversary fundraising in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. #iwill is a UK-wide campaign, which aims to get 6 out of 10 young people involved in social action by 2020.

The DofE is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people. DofE programmes enable any young person, age 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work such as confidence, commitment and team working. Those who achieve a Bronze and Silver DofE Award will volunteer, learn a skill, get fit and undertake an expedition in wild country. Those who achieve a Gold Award also take part in a week long residential.

There are currently around 420,000 young people doing a DofE programme across the UK through a variety of centres including both state and independent schools, special schools, businesses, prisons, young offender institutions and youth groups.