During their PSHCE sessions last term, Year 8 students took part in the First Give social action programme where they raised money and awareness for their classes’ chosen charity. Following this, one group from each form was voted to attend a public speaking workshop and present their charity and social action to their parents, peers and five judges. The Year 8 tutor team would like to congratulate all pupils for their hard work and dedication during this programme - every single pupil played a role! We want to give a special well done to all the groups who took part in the final and, in particular Teniola Adeosun, Ethan Hoang, Annabelle Oliver-Kingful and Krisha Shrestha from 8NEQ who won the event and £1000 for their charity Bexley SNAP. 

The extracts below are reflections written by the winning pupils about their experience:

I had the great opportunity to participate in the wonderful charity programme First Give. It taught me many skills when it comes to presenting, working in a group and to have confidence in front of a big crowd. We had the opportunity to understand more about working with charities, creating social actions and learning more about social issues. But there was a lot of work being put into the whole experience!

First, our class had to collectively decide on a social issue to focus on, allowing us to identify global problems around the world. We all decided on Mental Health as our class social issue and decided to support the local charity Bexley SNAP. Not only do they focus on Mental Health, but also strive to support young children with SEND and their families.

To support our charity, we chose to do a charity football match and a handprint mural. They were great fun to participate in and were chosen for all individuals to enjoy. In total, we were able to raise £129 for our chosen charity.

Then, we were put into groups of 4 to create presentations, which were later put into a vote for the class to decide who represents our form in the final. My group was picked to participate in the finals!

But that wasn’t the end!

We were then invited to a First Give workshop, which included the winning groups from each form. We were greeted by a volunteer at First Give, Luke, and he was able to assist us with our presentations. He gave us great tips and pointers to make our presentation the best it could be. A week later, and the competition began!

Before our group was going to perform, I was indeed feeling nervous! Presenting in front of a crowd was scary but worth it as we were doing this for the hardworking volunteers at Bexley SNAP. Luckily, after the huge sigh of relief, the judges came to their final decision and our group won! It was a rollercoaster of emotions when me, Teniola, Krisha and Ethan got up to hold the big cheque! Suddenly, all our hard work paid off, and it turned out to be a great experience.

Annabelle Oliver-Kingful, Year 8

The final was very nerve-wracking, but in the end we were able to get through it and all the presentations were amazing - as was winning the £1000! Our charity is hoping to use this money to fund trips, board games and improve facilities to further support children and their families.

Overall, this programme helped me learn to work with peers who I would usually never work with and taught me how to care for and support our community.

Krisha Shrestha, Year 8

There was a very high level of presentations at the final which resulted in 8NEQ winning the event and the £1000 for their charity. In addition, the students in 8ERR were awarded a judges' commendation for their fantastic presentation, which included contemporary dance and poetry, in aid of their charity Woolwich Service Users Project. The poem is below.

Thank you to all the students and tutors for their hard work over the course of the programme. Additional thanks go to the judges who attended the evening and to parents and guardians for their continued support.

Year 8 team

The First Give program was a really fun process for me as it helped build my leadership skills and helped me improve my ability to work in a team, particularly with people I do not usually work with. This programme helped build my confidence and resilience when working on a shared task amongst a group. Once we started the whole programme, I wasn’t really confident about the task and was reluctant to do it every week. However, that improved over time and I started to contribute more and practise my lines for the presentation.

In the final, we were the penultimate group to perform. The nerves were on, but I still managed to stay cool and once it was time to perform, all of a sudden, every single bit of doubt that I had leading up to that moment went away swiftly as I remembered all the preparation that I had put into this. I gave it my best and my best was more than enough as I was greeted with great joy and relief to find out at the end that our presentation had won 1,000 pounds for our charity. This whole experience was one that I will never forget as it was a new experience for me, working with charity and all the hard work had finally paid off!

Teniola Adeosun, Year 8