Mansfield school welcomes neighbours for Christmas lunch

The Samworth Church Academy, on Sherwood Hall Road, threw open its doors to nearby residents for the festive fare.

Lisa McVeigh, academy principal, said: “It is fantastic for us to welcome our friends and neighbours from the community in to share some Christmas cheer with us.

“Our ethos has a strong thread of service and this meal is a great opportunity for our students to be of service to our neighbours.

“We want to thank everyone who attended, and to our staff for creating such lovely food for our visitors, and to the students for making it such a special day.”

Visitors were welcomed and served by representatives of the academy’s Combined Cadet Force (CCF), before watching performing arts students put on The Wizard of Oz.

Visitor Margaret Ball said: “It’s a great idea to get the community to come in to school.”

Fellow lunch-goer Christine Jarvis said: “I have been for the past four years and always enjoyed it.

“The students are always lovely and it’s nice that the school throws its doors open to the community.

“Mixing the generations is great for helping us to talk to each other and looking at our different perspectives on life. We learn from them, and hopefully they learn from us.”

Year 10 pupil Marianna Bule, a CCF member who served at the lunch, said: “I love speaking to the visitors and found it really interesting.

“I think it’s great for people to come into school and meet us and this sort of event shows that teenagers have a lot to offer.”

Harrison Kerkhof, a fellow Year 10 pupil and CCF member, said: “It’s good for teenagers like me to be able to meet older generations because on the news you hear so much about my age group not acting so well.

“Hopefully, this type of event will help to change that mindset and show that there are lots of teenagers who are trying to do things well.”