On Thursday 10th April Etone College had the delight of welcoming Nuneaton MP Jodie Gosling and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Bhim Saru to the school in order to celebrate our recent win as Community School of the Year.
As you will be aware the award win is historic for many reasons including our first national award in recent memory. The award presented to the school in London is a great reward for our pupils for all of their hard work.
Over the course of the visit pupils had the opportunity to enjoy a sit down discussion with Jodie and Bhim as they shared the tremendous work they do in building links between the school and the community, discussed how the Community Champions could further support Nuneaton and brainstormed future plans for the town and the school.
Upon discussing the wider community impact of Etone and the importance of our win on our community Jodie had some kind words of inspiration for the pupils to share stating “It is a great opportunity to come in and congratulate your win. This is big news not just for you but for the community as it is a key focus of our goals to regenerate and celebrate the area. The pride you have in your community and school is truly amazing.”
Our pupils were particularly enthused when discussing plans for a local Youth Council and the opportunities to be involved in the regeneration of the town centre. Mr Saru also shared his journey into politics with the pupils and his pride of being the first Nepalese Councillor, Deputy Mayor and Mayor-elect along with heaping further praise onto our team of young leaders agreeing “it is really important that we share this, the community is such a special place. Having settled here it is what brings us together and helps us to understand each other. A big well done to Etone College.
As the session drew to a close there was an opportunity to tour our visitors around the new Tanner building and share some of the sustainable features whilst discussing some of the ideas the Community Champions would like to implement in the town.
Finally, we were honoured to be invited to attend the Civic rooms at the Town Hall for a meet and greet with the Mayor-elect in the following term.
