Gaynes School
Haiti
News & Events
Year 7 – Haiti charity sleepover
On Friday 26 March 100 year seven students spent the night on the school hall floor to imagine what life is like for the people of Haiti who now find themselves homeless. Each student paid £10 to enter for this appeal. The event started at 8pm and finished at 8 am the next day. Between these hours all students stayed on the school grounds and enjoyed all the activities going on during the night.
There were many activities going on in the night. The activities were:
- 2 great films: The Vampire Assistant and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
- A games room in A2 where Mr Dudley- Hart and Mr Earl provided Play Station 3, the games were Sing star and a Football tournament.
- In A5 there were cardboard boxes laid on the floor, each student was able to lie on the cardboard so as to empathise with the children in Haiti who are now homeless. Afterwards, they wrote their feelings on to a sheet of paper then pinned it on to a pin board, also they were able to write letters to children in Haiti. Ms Malakouna was there to help people write messages in French, because many people in Haiti speak French better than English.
- A Red Cross video of what donated money is being used for in Haiti.
That night was a great experience for year sevens as we are the first year to sleep in school. I know that the sleepover was a success because before the sleepover many students knew what was happening in Haiti but they really didn’t take it in. Now after the sleepover they all see how lucky it is for them. How children and families are struggling to stay alive and how they are sleeping right now this minute. Reading the letters and the feelings sleeping on the cardboard boxes I can recognise that students are taking it in and those they now know where the money is going to. As we are talking about human rights in citizenship the sleepover has incorporated elements of the national curriculum, by showing how people’s human rights have been destroyed.
All the money raised is been given to UNICEF HAITI Earthquake Children’s Appeal. We as a group have raised over £1000 for the charity we are very grateful for everyone who came and contributed to the money.
I would like to give a big thanks to Mr Jackson who organised the whole sleepover. Also I would like to say thank you to all staff who helped or slept in the school (Ms Kirby, Ms Ulbricht, Ms Whytefield, Ms Sutton, Ms Feeley, Ms Pires, Mr DeSabbata) and a thank you to the Parent Association for providing refreshments. Finally, thanks to Ms Gilbert for an excellent Capoeira exercise session in the morning!
Omolayo Soruna 7N1
