All of the pupils in Year 7 & 8 hosted a Christmas Party for more than 90 elderly people, many of whom have disabilities, in the PAC on Tuesday, 13th December. The event was organised by two charities; Shopmobility and Outreach. They help people who have difficulty getting out of their homes.

The event started with a fleet of minibuses dropping off our guests. After some tea, biscuits and socialising, a Christmas Lunch was served by our pupils and volunteers from the charities. A Christmas Quiz was followed by the Raffle Draw and then some festive songs from the School choir and a Christmas Rap from our multi-talented Year 7 & 8 pupils.

The event provided our pupils with an invaluable experience of volunteering, citizenship and socialising to which they responded magnificently. The elderly visitors were full of praise for them and many wanted to take them home!

Here are a few  reflections from Year 7 pupils:

This afternoon when we helped out at the Christmas party, some of us met some really nice people and shared lots of stories.  I was serving on a table with Sayma and we had 4 elderly people on our table.  I was told that one man named Charley was 97 years of age.

Montel

Today I shared a table with 5 ladies who enjoyed their chats and their food. Myself and my partner were informing them about the School, talking about where they had come from and listening to their conversation right until the end.

Kyle

On our table was  a lady who told me her name was Annie.  She had come from Leyton but had a strong undercurrent of a Welsh accent, so I asked her where she was originally from.  She told me Wales but went on to explain that she hadn’t lived there since 1946.  I was surprised by this as her accent was still very strong.

She continued to say that she was a woman of the world and had been all around from Singapore to Germany, despite not knowing many languages.  Her husband was a soldier, hence why she was such a woman of the world.  She had even been around the coast of South Africa as a diversion.

Annie was a wonderful and beautifully kind woman and I hope to see her again.

Rodi

Today we spent time with some elderly people and they were very kind.  They told us lots of stories; one of the men was in the army in 1943.

Maya

Today we had a great day because we socialised with elderly people. First,  I met an elderly woman whose name was Mary.  I offered her some drinks and fruits which she thought were nice. Mary and I had a little chat about ourselves and then suddenly we got into a detailed chat about Westfield in Stratford of which she was very fond.

Husnain