Bacon’s College in Rotherhithe has marked the start of the academic year by receiving an award for its “character education”.
Bacon’s has become one of just over 120 schools nationally to hold the Character Education Quality Mark, awarded by the Association for Charter Education (ACE) in recognition of strong non-academic teaching, such as resilience, independence and teamwork training.
ACE said character development had become an “integral part” of the school, noting it offered an “impressive and extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities”, such as clubs, performances, sports teams and school trips.
Over the summer, three Bacon’s students were invited to Buckingham Palace to receive their gold Duke of Edinburgh awards, which the school called a “testament” to ACE’s report.
A Church of England school, Bacon’s was also praised for its volunteering events, such as the Christmas community dinner with residents of the nearby Rose Court care home, which helped create a “deep sense of community” amongst students and staff.
Additionally, ACE highlighted the school’s leadership opportunities, with the chances to become prefects or join the student council both “held in high esteem by students”.
They noted pupils on the mediation team at Bacon’s received professional training to support conflict resolution “throughout Southwark”, demonstrating “compassion, respect and courage”.
“We are extremely proud to receive this external recognition for our approach to making character a core part of every child’s education at Bacon’s College,” Principal James Wilson said.
“Academic excellence goes hand in hand with fostering important skills that set students up for a happy and successful life. It is such a pleasure seeing our resilient, conscientious and dedicated young people contribute so much to their local communities and achieve beyond what they thought was possible.”
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He added: “We very much seek out opportunities for us as a school, and for our students, to have a direct positive impact on nearby communities in Southwark and to partner on schemes that improve our local area.
“It is exciting to see how we can continue to develop this offering over the coming years.”
This comes off the back of a successful A-Level results day for students at Bacon’s, with 88% of exams taken at the school scoring at least a C.
