Community projects
At Scotts Primary School, each year group leads on a social action or community project of their choosing at some point in the school year. The aims of these projects are:
- To expand our curriculum beyond the academic, i.e. personal development, character education, community values and life skills.
- To prepare our pupils to play an active role as responsible, respectful and active citizens within groups, community and society.
- To build meaningful curriculum links which engage pupils with community and social issues.
- To support pupils’ understanding and application of our school values and British values in broader contexts.
- To provide pupils with enrichment opportunities which further promote values of equality and inclusion.
- To empower children as agents for change.
Reception - Community Recipe sharing
In the summer term, we asked Reception children to share their favourite family recipes. We then invited the parents and carers into school to bring in their chosen dish. All the children, parents and staff enjoyed trying all the delicious recipes from the different cultures in our year group. We have made a recipe book to share with everyone in our year group.
Year 1 - Operation Christmas Child
In the Autumn term, Year 1 pupils and parents worked together to create shoe box gifts for ‘Operation Christmas Child' which is a Samaritan's project where donated shoe box gifts are delivered to children in need around the world.
Some children also added a special letter and picture to share extra Christmas joy. The shoe boxes were taken to a local drop off point from where they will have been dispersed across the world. A child, somewhere, will now have had a happier Christmas thanks to the year 1 children and parents.
Year 2 - Nativity songs and Christmas Carols with the 'Bridge' at North Street Halls
In December, Year 2 children travelled to North Street Halls in Hornchurch to perform their nativity songs for the guests of the Bridge community group (which is linked with St. Andrews Church and our school governor, Rev. Ken).
It was a fantastic experience for our children who had the chance to sing on a stage to a wonderful, welcoming audience who sent us this lovely message:
"Thank you so much for this morning. It was fantastic & all our guests were so excited about it afterwards. - some in tears! Please thank the children & we'd love you to visit again in the Spring."
We look forward to building more bridges within our local community and returning soon. Thank you to all those who volunteered to make our project possible.
Year 6 - Fundraising for Barnardo's
During their Victorians topic earlier in the year, classes learned about the work of Thomas Barnardo and the Ragged Schools. In the summer term, Year 6 pupils became entrepreneurs for the day when they hosted their very own ‘Fiver Fayre’.
Children used a five pound investment to create their own stalls for the ‘Fiver Fayre’, where other pupils were invited to take part in games, activities and make purchases. In total, Year 6 classes raised a fantastic total of £550 for the Barnardo’s charity!
Year 3 - Community Mural Quilt
In the Spring term, on Good to Be Different Day, Year 3 pupils, parents, teachers, governors, KS2 Super sewers and a very special volunteer from the Havering Quilters worked together to create a mural quilt inspired by Frida Khalo (our uniqueness ambassador). Throughout the day of sewing, everyone showed great resilience and determination. We are so super proud of the superb creativity and imagination the children demonstrated. As well as the delicate stitching and embellishments, the mural also includes 12 carefully selected words to represent our school community as a result of our survey. The Mural is now on display for everyone to enjoy in reception.
Year 4 - The Giant Litter Pick!
In the summer term, children from Year 4 scoured the school grounds and the local area for rubbish using litter pickers donated by Havering Council (thank you!). We collected a range of rubbish including: plastic bags, plastic bottles, cardboard cartons and lots of other bits that the children didn't want spoiling our streets and green areas.
Many members of the local community praised and thanked us for our efforts and the children took great pride in cleaning up our streets - well done!
Year 5 - Recording for the Havering Talking Newspaper
Year 5 classes visited the recording studio of the Havering Talking Newspaper for their community project. The talking newspaper is a local charity that records the local news, stories and music for visually impaired members of Havering. Year 5 wrote their own articles about different aspects of life at Scotts, from sports and gardening club to the O2 trip and the 50th anniversary which they were then able to record in the studio. They were also able to see how the recording equipment worked.
One of the technicians commented on how accomplished pupils were at both writing and speaking. He was also really impressed with the variety of activities and events the children spoke about. If you know of anyone who would benefit from the Havering talking Newspaper service, further information can be found here.
