Year 7 Christmas Fair

 by Kimberley Leighton-Smith

The festive spirit was very much in the air on Friday, 8th December, when the whole of Year 7 worked together to create an entertaining fair full of games and treats for Middle School pupils. Each tutor group had ownership of a stall, and were able to design and create an activity or product/service for other pupils to enjoy. What is always so lovely about this event is how each and every pupil contributes, whether that be designing posters, running the stall, acting as treasurer, promotion or creating the produce. It is a real team effort and this year was no exception, with the pupils raising £149.15 for our nominated charity, Second Chance, a local initiative founded in 1984 and growing from the work of the founder and present Chief Executive, Doug Hulme, in special schools. 

It was originally known as the "Foster an Angler" charity, because it took children from deprived backgrounds camping and fishing. Now based in our offices in Titchfield, it has come a long way since those early beginnings and is a nationally established independent and innovative social agency with many resources and skills at its disposal. Uniquely, it still takes the youngsters fishing and uses the medium of this popular leisure time activity to establish links and lines of communication between the youngsters and volunteer adults, and to give children a sense of achievement, confidence and a social understanding. There was a huge range of activities and sweet treats to enjoy to the backdrop of all the best Christmas songs: Guess the baby photos, Guess the Christmas cuddly toy name, ping pong, find the elf, popcorn, home-made cakes and skittles. A special mention to Mr Horrod's tutor group who raised the most money and had a queue for their tin can game for the entire lunch hour!