With the XFactor phenomenon gripping the nation, pupils at Friends’ School held their inhouse version of the show with their ‘FSL Factor’ Christmas show on December 17th with both staff and pupils joining forces to organise and present the acts. The school was able to raise almost £1000 to send to a fellow Quaker School in Costa Rica –the Monteverde Friends’ School. The school has forged recent links with the Central American school and the RS Department at Friends’ is planning to take a study of an ethical issue surrounding care for the environment to an international level through a curricular link between Year 08 pupils and pupils in Monteverde. Pupils at Friends’ have also raised £480 to enable a Quaker School in Bolivia to build a greenhouse which will provide year long potential to grow fruit and vegetables. At the recent GCSE Reception in November, the Guest Speaker, Janette Mc Knight, the Director of Quaker Cottage in N.Ireland praised the work of the school in assisting with the work of Quaker Cottage, both as a result of the on-going community service from pupils at Maghaberry and the tremendous generosity of the pupils in the run up to Christmas with the hampers put together by each of the Collect or Form groups.
Year 13 pupils take on responsibility for the promotion and management of most of the fund raising events at the school and already this term have raised more than a massive £3,000 through bun sales, a non uniform day, the sale of toffee apples before Hallow’een among other events. However, individuals or groups with a particular cause, both staff and pupils, are also encouraged in their initiatives and this term Year 9B raised a fantastic £165 to support the Ukrainian Orphanages Appeal ; the Show Jumping team raised £120 for the Brook Horse and Donkey Appeal in India and Pakistan ; the Head of Careers worked with the Charities Committee in the organisation of Jeans for Genes Appeal, the Head of Biology collected £110 for Macmillan Cancer ; it is hoped that £3000 will be raised for the victims of the Tsunami in SE India, encouraged by one of the assistant Maths teachers and another Maths teacher has led the appeals for Gift Aid. For the past number of years, pupils from Year 12 have contributed £56 per month to the Fields of Life charity to support 3 African children through their education and for the past two years, quizzes organised during the week leading up to the European Day of Languages have raised nearly £200 for Médecins Sans Frontières, supporting the work of former pupil, Laura Richey who works as a doctor with the organisation in the Congo, Africa.
With the XFactor phenomenon gripping the nation, pupils at Friends’ School held their inhouse version of the show with their ‘FSL Factor’ Christmas show on December 17th with both staff and pupils joining forces to organise and present the acts. The school was able to raise almost £1000 to send to a fellow Quaker School in Costa Rica –the Monteverde Friends’ School. The school has forged recent links with the Central American school and the RS Department at Friends’ is planning to take a study of an ethical issue surrounding care for the environment to an international level through a curricular link between Year 08 pupils and pupils in Monteverde.
