Charities and Community Service

Charity

The supporting of charities forms an important feature of every term in the Lower School. The School Council named Pupil Vice decides which charities will be supported during the term and discusses with staff the events we will be holding.

There is an event each term organised by one of the Houses and this is often run in conjunction with a non-uniform or dressing-up day. Our major charity event of the year is always the Christmas Fair. This is run entirely by pupils, although parents often help to man the stalls on the day!

In the last year we have raised over £8000 for different causes. An important part of fund-raising involves a visit by the chosen charity to explain to pupils how the money they raised will be used.

Over recent years we have undertaken the following charity events:

Harvest Festival - for the Salvation Army
Jeans for Genes- silver Coin Challenge - for Genetic Research
Shoebox Appeal - Nelsons Journey
Carol Service - for Night Shelter
Christmas Fair - EACH
Bottle Tombola - Guide Dogs
Non-Uniform Days - Save the Children
Colour Run - Street Child

Community Service

Our Upper Three pupils are also encouraged to undertake the Lower School Service Award, with one part of the award focusing on carrying out some Community Service in their local area. Recently this has included pupils singing and performing at local nursing homes, collecting litter, volunteering in local community centres and cleaning all the road signs in their local villages! The school was recognised for the pupils’ outstanding contribution to communities with a national TES award.

Find out more about our recent charity and community service work below:

Lower School Pupils Show Up in Style for Jeans for Genes

By Eleanor Lewis • September 16, 2025

On Tuesday 16 September, a much-anticipated event was held at the Lower School: its annual Jeans for Genes day. 'J4G' is a fantastic cause for our young pupils to support, raising money for many individual charities that help thousands of children in the U.K. living with a multitude of serious genetic conditions - supporting their difficult daily lives, medical care, family days out and scientific research. Our pupils dressed in denim for the day, donating £2 each for the privilege, and every class combined all their families' loose change for the 'silver coin challenge' - using the coins to make designs on this year's theme of 'gardening'. All pupils worked creatively together to form lovely pictures on the playground of flowers, wheelbarrows, spades, insects and wellies...then all cash was collected and counted. A magnificent total donation of £915.42 was achieved for Jeans for Genes - well done to all involved!

Home Clothes and Fashion Show in Aid of Street Child Charity

By Eleanor Lewis • June 24, 2025

The Senior School Charities Committee held their own home clothes day a few weeks ago in aid of Street child and today is the Lower School's turn! Lower School pupils were encouraged to wear orange in exchange for donations. Next up is our annual Charity Fashion Show, also in aid of Street Child , where we will be showcasing multiple lines of textiles and art and design creations made by our very own pupils. The committee have even launched a 'Design your own Tote Bag' competition and have printed them in school to sell on the night - see below images of the winning design in the 4 th Form. The other two winners were from L1 and L3 in the Lower School. There is still time to buy your tickets for the Fashion Show which is in Blake THIS Friday at 18:30!

Lower School Raise £500 for Young Minds!

By Eleanor Lewis • June 8, 2025

We were delighted to host our first Lower School Car Boot Sale on Sunday 8 June, raising an impressive £500 for Young Minds, the UK charity supporting children’s mental health. It was a lovely community morning, with parents and children coming together to sell pre-loved items, enjoy refreshments and support a fantastic cause. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped make the event such a success!