Lower School pupils at St Mary's Calne have completed the Wings of Hope Achievement Awards (Junior) after spending the summer term planning and delivering fundraising projects in support of the children's charity.
Working in teams of around six, the girls designed and organised their own fundraising initiatives while developing practical skills including teamwork, communication, financial planning, confidence and entrepreneurship. Throughout the project they received guidance from Wings of Hope mentors, alongside support from teaching staff at the school.
The projects formed part of the school's Future Fridays programme, which encourages pupils to develop real-world skills through hands-on experiences.
Fundraising ideas were as varied as the pupils themselves. One group wrote, produced and performed an original theatre production inspired by Alice in Wonderland, while others organised an ice cream stall, created bottled cookie mixes, designed personalised crafts, hosted a school-wide water fight, ran a scavenger hunt and held creative workshops.
Year 6 pupil Jemima said creating and performing the play had been challenging but rewarding. "We worked extremely hard to create this story from scratch. I do not regret sticking to our original idea, as it challenged us creatively and allowed us to produce something we are all proud of."
The initiative is expected to raise more than £1,000 for Wings of Hope, a charity that supports education projects in India and Sierra Leone while helping young people in the UK develop leadership, empathy and enterprise skills.
Head of Future Fridays Mr Dan Curran thanked the pupils, parents and staff for their support, describing the initiative as a huge success.
