9A wins Grand Prize at First Give

Congratulations to 9A!

Since December, our Year 9s have been taking part in a social action project called First Give. It is an opportunity for young people to find out about social issues that matter to them and to begin to do something about them.

Our two Year 9 classes chose to focus on the issues of homelessness and addiction. Both classes put their time and effort into raising awareness around the school and also organised some events to raise money to support their chosen charities (Julian House and V-I-A).

The events our students arranged and ran included a series of events to support Julian House’s 300 challenge (which reflects the 300 square mile area they work within), a cake sale, guess the sweets in the jar, quizzes for tutor groups to complete and a temptation challenge involving donuts!

Both classes did a fantastic job, and their hard work culminated in the Grand Final, where a group from each class presented to an audience of over a hundred staff and students, including a panel of judges. The presentations were persuasive, full of valuable information showing an excellent understanding of the issues, and a number of creative elements which made them particularly engaging.

After deliberating, the judges awarded 9A the Grand Prize, a £1000 donation to the winning charity, V-I-A, an addiction charity based in London.

I am delighted with the commitment and passion shown by our Year 9 groups and look forward to seeing how this spurs them on to become active participants in the community more widely. With young people like these, the future may be in safe hands.