Charity is core to our ethos

- Mr O'Reilly on charitable giving at our Junior School

Pope Francis said: "Charity, patience and tenderness are very beautiful gifts. If you have them, you want to share them with others."

Sharing the gift of charity is at the core of what we do at St Mary’s School, Cambridge and this was evident at our annual Fun Run today. The girls impressed with their striking ‘favourite bedtime story’ inspired costumes. Great fun was had while raising money for many worthwhile causes and there is still time over half term to get more sponsors. We encourage a ‘20 campaign’, promoting the idea that each student should aim to gain sponsorship of £20, whether by one generous sponsor donating £20, or 20 sponsors happy to donate just £1. The thinking behind this is that by each student’s commitment to raising just £20, the school can raise an impressive sum for charity. As always, this was a great way for us to bring to an end a busy and eventful first half term.

The charities the school will be donating this year’s funds to are: The work of Sister Christopher and the CJ Community in Zimbabwe; Arthur Rank Hospice; Walking with the Wounded; Mercury Phoenix Trust; Mercy Ships and Educaid (Sierra Leone).

This half term has been full of fundraising activities; highlights include our Roald Dahl dress up day, Harvest Festival and our first ever Macmillan coffee morning. Each year we endeavour to support a new charity; it excites the girls and helps them learn about new worthwhile causes. We also continue to support charities close to the school’s heart, such as Hani’s school in Ethiopia and CAFOD. Some classes even incorporate charity work into their topic, for example, the Year 5 pupils will be doing a welly walk in aid of Farm Africa (to ‘give hunger the boot’!) as part of their Africa topic.

The charity mission is core to our ethos and as you can see this ethos is lived out in our termly charity events. The girls feel a sense of purpose through fundraising and they have a mature understanding of the issues facing the less fortunate around the globe. Charity work at St Mary’s Junior School, Cambridge should not be seen as simply events but, more importantly, that charitable giving pervades all we do.

 

 

A word from Mr Hald, our Head of Juniors

As you all know, the Fun Run which took place this afternoon brings to the end this half of term – I hope you all have a safe and restful half term break. I look forward to seeing you on Monday 2 November when term resumes.

I would like to bring to your attention several events happening in and around Cambridge over half term. 

• The University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas is running throughout the half term break, many of the events are suitable for pupils.  Details can be found by clicking here.
• Wandlebury Country Park is hosting a number of exciting events over half term – from discovering wildlife to art sessions and a spider hunt. Further details on the events can be found on the website. 
• Finally, The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is hosting interactive and engaging talks with a history interpreter to discover the stories behind the aircraft from the First World War, Second World War and the Cold War - please visit the website for more details.