As we all start preparations for the next academic year, it’s also a great time to cast our minds back to some of the brilliant sparks of social consciousness through 2022/23.
It has been another year full of inspiring moments and stories, and we love to hear about the teacher, student and charity experience when it comes to the First Give programme! Here are some of the highlights – or sparks – from the last 10 months.
Student sparks
“I chose this charity as mental health is a big issue for us, particularly around our age, with exam pressures etc. and [the charity] does a lot of good work with people in our area.”
“We are keen to join together with the year 9 class to do more social action and help more people, even after First Give, as the problem is still on-going, and it is important that it is not forgotten about.”
Teacher sparks
“Students were able to both grow into leading roles, and learnt more about how to speak to different audiences and for different causes. They really bloomed in the tasks they set themselves and enjoyed the opportunity to have complete control of a project, something relatively new to them.”
“There is such a buzz around the school when learners are planning and organising their social action events to raise awareness for their chosen social issues and charities. The whole community is involved, and the learners really benefit from developing relationships with the charities whilst gaining a deeper understanding of and empathy for the social issues. Once the school sees this in action, there is never any doubt about running the programme again!”
“These students have done some of the best presentation work they’ve ever done on this First Give programme. It’s helped them get ‘out of themselves’ and think about others around them and issues that aren’t just affecting them directly.”
“This was our first year of running First Give and it has delivered everything it promised. Our students were passionate about their charities and rose to the challenge in raising awareness across the school. Students we have never seen present before delivered their presentation in the final with confidence and were able to articulate ‘why’ they had done what they had done, which is so important. Their communications with the charities was fantastic to see showing great maturity and interest in others beyond ‘their’ world. I would highly recommend the programme. It also gave a great opportunity for the relationships with form tutors and the students to develop even more”
Charity sparks
“Please keep flying the flag to inspire next generations”
“Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. This grant will go a long way in our work to support those in need.”
“Thank you so much, we really appreciate that you have chosen our charity to support. We are a small charity working locally and we really see the effect of money like this.”