Y7 Homelessness Day - November 2014

Tuesday 25th November saw the launch of the first of our annual Enrichment and Citizenship Days for 2014/15. 

Kicking off the programme with Year 7, the theme of the day was Homelessness. And what a thought-provoking, profoundly moving and wonderfully inspiring day it was!

Our students did themselves proud, as ever, responding with great sensitivity and enthusiastically participating in a very wide range of activities designed to increase their awareness of the issues faced by homeless young people.

Workshops, some of which were delivered by Calthorpe Park staff and others which were run by a range of outside agencies, included Art, Dance, Drama, Technology, Music, Cooking, Shelter Building, Budgeting and Drugs Awareness. 

We were delighted to be joined by Step by Step, a charity based in Aldershot, which supports homeless young people and those dealing with disadvantage and adversity. Whilst deeply moved by learning about some of the very harsh realities of life on the streets, students and staff were also highly inspired by some of the amazing stories of triumph over adversity that were shared by the charity's staff and volunteers. 

We also welcomed Hart Food Bank whose representative showed our students how to assemble food parcels for individuals and families and also the YMCA who challenged our students' perceptions of homeless people and the cost of independent living. 

The day concluded with some wonderful street music and a very moving performance depicting a true story.  This was created and performed by an extremely talented group of Year 10 students.

As ever, feedback from all concerned was highly positive; students provided deeply sensitive evaluations of what they had learned, the emotional journey they had completed and the personal highlights they had experienced. 

And finally, we were delighted to receive wonderfully positive feedback from those who helped to make the day one that our students will always remember. 

Below, we reproduce a couple of extracts from emails sent after the event:

from Step by Step in Aldershot:

'The morning assembly was very impressive and hard-hitting. I thought the creativity around the poem and delivery was excellent and something I have never seen at any other school.'

'The students of Year 7 showed an outstanding ability to engage in the workshop and had a great wealth of emotional intelligence and compassion for such a young age. They were a real credit to the school so please pass on our appreciation to everyone.'

and from Hart Foodbank:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed your Homelessness Day. It is a wonderful idea.’