Hall of Fame - News from our Schools and Colleges

Charity Sunday at Bryanston School

Pupils, staff and parents joined together in support of Street Child Africa's Zimbabwean partner, Streets Ahead for a massive day of fun and fundraising on a warm Spring Sunday at the end of April.  Organised by the indefatigable, Sarah Stacpole,  events took place around Bryanston's campus with students taking on challenges as diverse as climbing Everest on the school's rock climbing wall, swimming the English Channel in the pool and running a marathon distance around the grounds.  Staff were on hand with ice cream, water and TLC to encourage, cajole and congratulate pupils who hope to have raised in excess of £10,000 for Streets Ahead!

Summer Holiday on Mount Kilimanjaro

Many of us look forward to a good book, suntan lotion and  an easy chair to unwind after the hard work of the school year - but that's not for Street Child Africa's  intrepid supporting teachers,  Annemarie Williams, Headteacher at Humberstone Junior School, Leicestershire and Ed Jeffry of Salesians School in Chertsey.  With great courage and the enthusiastic support of their schools communities, Annemarie and Ed will be taking on the challenge of climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Street Child Africa over the summer holidays.  We wish them a safe and fun filled adventure! To support them, please visit their fundraising page.

Heathbrook Primary School Visit the Genememe Exhibition

Year 2 pupils were fascinated by their visit in June to the Crypt at St Pancras to the Gene Meme art installation on population.  There was a sense of wary anticipation as the 7 year olds descended the steps into the crypt but, having looked around a few of the darker corners, they quickly became gripped by the talk given by artist, Gregor Harvie.  Gregor explained how the worlds' population is growing at an unsustainable rate and then invited these young concerned citizens to examine how his paintings and the stories written by Alex Harvie help us to express our feelings about this global challenge.   The pupils were highly engaged and responsive to the exhibition and moved by the stories they heard from Street Child Africa's Education officer, Jacqui Hegarty, about the consequences for African street children of the global growth in population.  Kirstin,  a pupil at Heathbrook said, "I liked the way Jacqui talked about Noah twice, because she doesn't know where he is. It made me know we need to help. Where he was sleeping got burned down."

Elmbridge Schools Partnership International Pupil Conference 2010

Wednesday 10th March was the day when primary school pupils from around Elmbridge gathered at Esher College for a Pupil Conference addressing the theme, ‘A Fair World'.  Each school was asked to represent one country and to research and prepare display material about the provision of water, health and education in their chosen country.   Street Child Africa was the guest speaker at the Conference and Jacqui Hegarty spoke to the pupils about the difficulties that street children in Africa have in accessing clean water, health care and education and how the charity works with its partners, street children and its supporters in the UK to provide these basic rights for the children.  The young delegates were very well prepared for the conference, their displays were of a very high standard and their knowledge about their chosen country was impressive.  We very much hope that these youngsters will become supporters of our work.

Poetry Please at Yr 9 Retreat Day at The Ursuline School

Gerry Coates, musician and poet joined Street Child Africa in leading a retreat for Year 9 pupils at the Ursuline School in Wimbledon at the end of March.  It was a day of creativity, prayer and poignancy as pupils explored the realities of being a street child and turned their feelings into poems and prayers.  Gerry's poetry workshop inspired the students and gave them confidence in their writing skills. By the end of the day, these talented girls had produced a portfolio of moving poems, which will be published and sold in the Autumn to raise funds for Street Child Africa.  We are really grateful to Gerry Coates and to the Ursuline pupils and staff, especially Louise Jackson for all the work that went into making this event a success.