Social Impact
The CTK Graces
In the context of our mission, Grace is a divinely given talent, a blessing or prayer. Grace is a virtue and way of being, characterised by courteous goodwill. Our Character Education Programme – The CTK Graces – signifies the character traits that we explicitly develop in students so that they model the expectations, habits and behaviours inherent in an approach to learning.
These are:
G – Grit
R – Respect
A – Awareness
C – Curiosity
E – Endeavour
S – Self-control
In doing this we enrich our communities and challenge our students to live a good life in all its fullness. Through the Christ the King initiative, ‘Acts of Charity day’, students make a significant contribution to the common good through charity and volunteering.
Although the day is called Acts of Charity, it is not only about charity work. Christ the King students also actively get involved in community work. Students have taken part in litter collections in local parks, support in charity shops, gardening on site, clean local parishes, worked in care homes and primary schools and got involved in recruiting new shops to join Lewisham’s water bottle refilling scheme, which allows people to refill plastic water bottles on their premises to reduce plastic waste.
The sixth form charities we support annually are:
Macmillan Cancer Care, Children in Need, Cafod, Jimmy Mizen Foundation, Ahotokorum, Demelza, St Vincent de Paul Society, Refuge, The Manna Society and the Lewisham Foodbank.
Every Christmas and Easter, students collaborate to create gift hampers for donation and develop initiatives to support local charities. Annually, we organise our joint Christmas Gift Appeal in partnership with the EKC Group, where students actively engage with the community, seeking donations or gifts for those in need. This involves setting up tables at local supermarkets, distributing leaflets in the neighborhood, and engaging in various outreach activities.
Students volunteer to become student ambassadors, receiving training on how to be effective and how to help others. The students volunteer at the Diamond Club in Catford and St Christopher Hospice, whilst also raising money through activities such as The Big Lent Walk, Cake Sales, Red Nose Day and many more.
Through engagement with the range of charity-based activities and those aimed at supporting and building community, students model selflessness and a wider appreciation of others.
The overall effect is that community and CTK values are lived out in a practical, visible way. Kindness and consideration towards others, based on Gospel values, becomes part of students’ thinking and actions.
