Outreach
At Queen’s Gate, we have a varied programme of community outreach and partnership projects which provide real benefits for everybody involved. All students in Lower Sixth are taken off timetable on Friday afternoons in order to provide them with the time to contribute to our local community.
Examples of our outreach programme include our close and long-standing partnership with Kensington and Chelsea Age UK which sees guests arrive at school on a Friday afternoon to enjoy a hot lunch with some of our Lower Sixth students. Several of our guests have been attending this lunch for more than a decade and it is an important way to encourage intergenerational conversation – it is also a lot of fun for everyone involved! We then support Age UK with additional activities on a Friday afternoon including, but not limited to, hosting Bingo games, playing walking football, offering language lessons, and planning for special events.
We also support the work of the Trussell Trust through our Food Bank Friday initiative where our Sixth Formers organise a weekly collection of non-perishable items from pupils, parents and staff in both the Junior and Senior Schools. They deliver these to the local food bank and help to organise emergency food parcels for people in crisis. In December 2022, we also launched a new initiative in which digital Christmas cards, rather than physical ones, were sent out to members of our community; the money saved by this process was then used to provide a very generous Christmas donation, full of festive treats, to our local food bank.
A recent partnership is a reading project with local state primary schools. During the term of this partnership, Lower Sixth pupils from Queen’s Gate visited Churchill Gardens and Pimlico Academy every Friday to hear children read on a one-to-one basis. We also donated generously to provide a range of new books for the school libraries. A particular emphasis during the reading sessions was placed on improving the skill of reading for meaning and pleasure, and this was an area where our girls have made a major contribution and a huge impact. It is one of our most popular outreach choices and all students involved finish the programme with lasting memories.
Other projects with the local and wider community include volunteering at local charity shops for Oxfam and Royal Trinity Hospice, QG Super Saturdays where children aged 2-5 years old and their families join us for interactive workshops, and fundraising for the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation.
Charity
Queen’s Gate students and their families are incredibly generous and there is always a great demand to launch charitable endeavours. Students are encouraged to fill out a charity proposal form explaining their choice of charity and how they intend to raise funds; this helps our students to understand the meaning and importance of helping others and generates goodwill amongst the entire community. Recent examples of money-raising initiatives include jeans days, bake sales, staff and pupil dance-offs, movie nights, and wearing a particular colour to show support for a charity.
We also respond to extraordinary events in order to help raise funds and/or awareness when required. For example, we immediately launched a fundraiser to support the victims of floods in Pakistan and earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Another example includes our fundraising event to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III: Queen’s Gate students were asked to design a ‘crown’ and the winning entries were then placed on a commemorative mug. These beautifully designed and bespoke mugs were then sold to members of our community and all profits were given to a local charity: The Angelou Partnership This charity reflects the humanitarian interests of Queen Camilla who champions the welfare of girls and women across the globe.
Supporting charity is a tradition that all members of the school are incredibly proud of, and one which we will continue to place at the forefront of our ethos.
On Friday 9 February, before we broke up for the half term holidays, some of our Sixth Form girls performed at the Age UK Valentines Day Gala Concert with 450+ people in attendance .
We are hugely proud of our close and long-standing partnership with Kensington and Chelsea Age UK @ageukkandc which sees guests arrive at school on a Friday afternoon to enjoy a hot lunch with some of our Lower Sixth students. Several of our guests have been attending this lunch for more than a decade and it is an important way to encourage intergenerational conversation – it is also a lot of fun for everyone involved! We also support Age UK with additional activities on a Friday afternoon including several girls attending Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to take part in the Intergenerational Choir in partnership with @operahollandpark .
Read more about our Charities and Outreach work via our website 👉🏼 HOME I LIFE AT QUEEN’S GATE I CHARITIES & OUTREACH or go to: https://www.queensgate.org.uk/life-at-queens-gate/charities-outreach/
#unashamedlyproud #alwaysorigional #girlempowered #girlsfutures #girleducation #thepowerofgirls #independentschool #charitiesandoutreach
#musiceducation #ageuk #ageukkensigtonandchelsea
For the past term Queen`s Gate girls have hosted visitors from Age UK Kensington and Chelsea for lunch every Friday, before heading to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to sing with the Opera Holland Park and Age UK KC Intergenerational Choir.
This program was rounded off for the term with a Christmas lunch accompanied by carol singing from Senior School Girls, and then to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their first performance, to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the patients.
It`s lovely to receive such wonderful feedback for things that QG girls enjoy so much.
We are very excited to be working with Opera Holland Park to support singing sessions with Age UK members at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Here is a short video from our visit last Friday afternoon.
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#schoolcharityproject
#charityinschools
Queen`s Gate has enjoyed working alongside Age UK for many years. We welcome members every week for lunch, as well as hosting special events, including a Christmas Party and this year`s Coronation Picnic. This year we are excited to have been invited to work with @operahollandpark to support singing sessions with Age UK members at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital - true joy for our Friday afternoons.
#schoolcharity
#schoolcharityproject
#charityinschools
The School enjoyed a picnic on Friday in Queen`s Gate Gardens to celebrate The King’s Coronation, and, despite a few rain showers, pupils and staff had a great time. Games included traditional favourites such as Hook a Duck and a Treasure Hunt. We all tucked into picnic boxes laden with treats including scotch eggs, sausage rolls and coronation chicken wraps, followed by ice cream. We were delighted that our regular Age UK visitors could join us as well, with some members giving dance lessons to our Sixth Form pupils and staff.
#coronation
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#schoolcharityproject
#charityinschools
