Scarecrows and Farmers

Last autumn, at Windmill House School, Uppingham, local teacher Kathleen Nelson and the children put a novel spin on the harvest festival, combining charity, learning and lots of fun.

Mrs Nelson organised a fancy-dress walk, on which all the children would be dressed up as scarecrows and farmers, having raised sponsorship money among their friends and families.

'This is a really fun way to spend a morning!' said Katie from form 3, one of the little scarecrows who took part.

Present Aid

In class the children discussed what the money they raised could be used for.

Using Present Aid posters and catalogues from Christian Aid, the children discussed what life would be like for poor children in other parts of the world.

They thought about which of the gifts would be most important to them, if they lived in a poor country.

After the fundraising had come to a close, each class decided what gifts spend their donations on.

Decisions, decisions

'The youngest children in Early Years chose a village tap without any help or advice.'

'They said it would be good to have clean water to drink and have a wash but best of all you could splash in it on a hot day!' says Mrs Nelson.

Abigail tells us that she 'chose to buy the hula hoops so the children could play and have some fun.'

In the end, the children chose at least one of everything on the list.

'We had no idea how easy it could be to make life better for children our age by just buying animals,' said Katy, Tilly and Minnie.

Christian Aid assembly

The grand finale was a themed assembly, at which a Christian Aid representative did a role play about a little girl from South America.

The grand total that the children collected eventually worked out at an impressive £935!

Huge thanks to the children and their parents, to Mrs Nelson and the teachers involved. They all found out what a great mixture of fun, learning, and charity the harvest festival can be!

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