We thought we’d try something different for our Citizenship lessons this year and so we grouped our children into 12 mixed age classes. Each class then chose a local charity to support and did some preparation looking in to the history of the charity and the work that the charity undertakes. Many of the classes had visitors from their charity come in to school and talk to them; we even had a guide dog puppy in training and Bertie from the Dogs Trust at Roden! And of course, the children planned and organised their fundraising events.

 

On Thursday 21st of January we spent the day in our Citizenship classes and many of us carried out our fund raising events.

We had…

 

* a coffee morning and bake sale, followed by a sponsored run around the field dressed as food items, raising money for Market Drayton Foodbank and Guide Dogs for the Blind

* a sponsored quiz to raise money for the British Red Cross

* a sponsored Superhero Olympics testing super speed, super spring and super strength and raising funds for Action for Children

* a sponsored walk round Market Drayton, dressed as hedgehogs and raising funds for The British Hedgehog Preservation Society

* a sponsored 5k walk in fancy dress  collecting for Rollo’s fund, Birmingham Children’s Hospital

* a sponsored 5k walk down to and around Fordhall Farm, raising money for Fordhall Community Farm

* a balloon launch for Barnardo’s – the first of which was found 3 hours later by a very excited dog on his afternoon walk in Rotherham!

* a sponsored 5k cross country run in black and yellow and supporting the Dogs Trust

The remaining 3 classes were busy preparing for their upcoming fundraising events!

 

On March 10th a class will be bag packing in Market Drayton’s Morrisons to raise money for Macmillan and another group of children will be supporting Age UK by visiting one of our local residential homes in order to delight the residents with a spot of Easter singing and to engage them in some Easter games.

 

And once it’s warmed up a bit, we have a very brave class who are off on a sponsored trek up The Wrekin, wearing homemade star covered T-shirts, eating star shaped biscuits and singing ‘Reach for the Stars’ at the summit, all in support of Starlight children’s charity.

At the moment, and there is still money coming in and obviously there are 3 classes yet to carry out their events, we have banked £1164 across the school J

 

Quote from Mrs Saunders – PSHE/Citizenship Co-ordinator

Everyone involved has been utterly amazing and has made this a massively successful event. The dedication and commitment of the staff has been remarkable and the level of support from our parents has been genuinely humbling. The children have truly engaged with the learning and the experience, and have fully embraced this opportunity to become active and responsible citizens in their local community. They are all superheroes!

 

Quotes from the children

I have learned…

…“don’t just think about yourself – think about others too!” – Izzy, Year 3

…”that it feels really nice to help other people!” – Oliver, Year 4

…”that just doing the littlest thing makes you a hero!” – Shona, Year 6

…”that I can walk 5k! Although I will be tired, I can do it no matter what!” – Liam, Year 5

…”to not give up!” – Hannah, Year 4

 

Quote from Head – Mr Tim Hayward

All the children and staff had a wonderful time raising money for their chosen local charities. The children also benefitted greatly from the opportunity to practise some important life skills such as cooperation, enterprise and citizenship. We really appreciated all the support from the parents and local community which allowed us to raise a significant amount.

 

The school would like to thank Mrs Saunders for conceiving the idea of supporting the twelve charities. Well done to all the children and school staff for their marvelous efforts and thanks to parents and relatives for supporting them.