Social Action

Throughout lockdown, the school community has continued to support diverse initiatives, from local hospitals and care homes to projects in India and Brazil.

Our Partnerships & Social Action programme aims to open doors, hearts and minds. This term,  one of our Year 7 forms raised money to provide much-needed coffee and freshly cooked meals to staff at the nearby Royal Free Hospital, while the wider school community gave generously to support this appeal for the medical teams on our local Covid wards.

Other initiatives thriving in lockdown include our pupil-led Giving Joy club, who sew toys and gifts to fundraise for children’s charities, and our well-established partnership with Spear Camden, who help disadvantaged young people to find work. Meanwhile, volunteers with our long-running Pensioners’ Link Programme have launched a pen pal scheme to connect with the vulnerable and elderly in the neighbourhood, and our Sixth Form Charity Captains organised a fun quiz for pupils as a fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust, raising nearly £600.

Further afield, Sixth Formers continue to get up early to connect with children from the Calcutta Social Project. Others have embarked on a new social outreach project in Brazil, helping children in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to develop literacy skills; Lower Sixth students are working with Dr Cortesi, who uses her expertise in the arts and astronomy to help children to develop communication strategies.

Ms Aneja, South Hampstead’s Consultant Teacher on Social Action and Volunteering, commented: “Technology has enabled us to broaden the reach of our initiatives throughout the pandemic… we are delighted to be able to provide more opportunities than ever for our pupils to give back and to make a difference.”