Back when Christmas adverts were at their peak, John Lewis told us that the best gifts are those you can’t wait to give. City girls, it would appear, couldn’t agree more.
In the past fortnight CLSG partnered with City of London Police to make a gift appeal for child refugees from Afghanistan. Thanks to the generosity of the school community, a huge van full of toys and gifts will be delivered to children who might have otherwise gone without this holiday. A huge thank you to everyone who donated.
Support has also been given to adult Afghan refugees, with 23 year 12 students supporting English language, orientation and digital skills sessions led by the Corporation of London’s Adult Skills department.
This is on top of existing student volunteering engagements, which have continued apace.
From paired reading at Galleywall Primary and COLPAI, to year 12 volunteering at IntoUniversity, an organisation that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their academic goals, the array of activities and support that CLSG students are providing to their local communities, is staggering.
Technology has also been an exciting facilitator in extending student impact beyond the local area, and even across the Atlantic! Year 13 students, for example, have been providing online Maths mentoring to children in years 7-10 across our partner schools via a dedicated app created by Colet Mentoring. Meanwhile, from next term year 12 Spanish students will provide remote peer tutoring to young people in America who come from families with a combined income of less than $12,000 via an organisation called Project Rousseau.
Our student impact is only set to expand in the new year – students have already signed up to help with after-school assistance at another primary, COLPAI; we look forward to once again supporting the Hackney Food Bank; and many more will undertake independent initiatives as part of their Duke of Edinburgh awards. We can’t wait to report back on what they achieve for the communities around them.
