Last week, as it was Burns Night, it was the turn of Burns House to run their Junior School tuck shop fundraiser.
These events are brilliant for the girls’ life skills development. Ably led by their house captain (Eve, in this case) and with a little guidance from teaching staff, the girls pretty much do everything themselves to ensure the event is a success. From deciding what they are going to sell, which competitions they are going to run, gathering the stock and prizes and then running the stalls on the day; the girls are central to everything. This is when teamwork comes to the fore with Year 6 girls buddying-up with younger girls to show them ropes and develop their skills for future years.
This year the girls voted to support two animal related charities. Orangutan Appeal UK, specifically Beryl, the orangutan in Borneo that Burns decided to sponsor from last year’s proceeds. Then, to support animals in the UK, they also chose the RSPCA.
In a stroke of marketing brilliance, rather than dress in the usual tartan or blue they decided to encourage everyone to really think about the welfare of animals with an animal dress code (see below – more pictures on Facebook).
As you can imagine it was a very successful day with activities such as drawing your favourite animal, apple bobbing, negotiating the obstacle course, and guess the number of sweets in a jar. There were also the old favourites such as the second hand book stall, the cake stall, and a new favourite, the candy floss and popcorn stall. The girls became experts in finding the right change and encouraging costumers to their stalls. Older girls also had the opportunity to support younger members of the Junior School community to use their money wisely and make choices about what they would purchase. All in all, over £300 was raised for Orangutan Appeal UK and the RSPCA to share and use to help with the welfare of animals in their care.
Well done Burns!