W
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GROUP OF WIRRAL STUDENTS FUNDRAISING
EFFORTS HELP BUILD A NEPALESE SCHOOL
Students from Birkenhead School enjoyed a trip of
a lifetime to Nepal in October half-term. During the
course of the last year a group of fourteen sixth formers
have raised nearly £15,000 to help contribute towards
the building of six new classrooms at a Nepalese school
in conjunction with the charity, So the Child May Learn.
During the trip the students trekked for nine days to
Annapurna Base camp, an incredible 4130m above sea
level, and then on to the village of Managau, where Lower
Krishna Secondary School is based. Here the group had the
opportunity to see how the money raised by their fundraising
efforts was going to change the lives of so many Nepalese
children.
The students also found time to formally open a new classroom
block that has already been completed with money raised by
the ‘So the Child May Learn’ charity, at Shree Pokra Secondary
School. The School formalised the friendship between both
schools by exchanging bonding gifts, Birkenhead School gave
a wooden crest as well as the School flag and the Headmaster
from Shree Pokra Secondary School presented the group with
a framed photograph of their school and a Nepalese flag.
Lower Sixth Form student, Hannah Durband, spoke about her
time in Nepal, “It was an incredible, life-changing experience.
A highlight was when we woke up early to finish the trek to
Annapurna Base Camp - seeing the sky go from pitch black
to spotting the orange streaks of the sun appearing behind
the mountains was breathtaking. Visiting the School was an
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emotional time and I remember the moment the children
placed the marigold chains over our heads in thanks, feeling
the weight of them all around our necks, it was such an
overwhelming experience.”
David Edmunds, who organised the trip, commented, “This
is not a trip I would have dreamed of organising 10 years ago
but, having been on around 30 overseas School trips in my
career, it was by far the most challenging and also the most
rewarding with every single student playing a significant part
in that.”
Paul Vicars, Headmaster, said, “Our 14 Sixth Formers should
be incredibly proud of what they have achieved. Ending their
trip visiting the site where the school is being built, thanks to
all their hard work and fundraising, will be a memory that
will stay with them forever. This life-changing experience is
a perfect example of how we educate our pupils beyond the
confines of the curriculum and help shape our students into
confident, socially aware members of the community.”
The students are now sharing memories and highlights of
their incredible trip with fellow pupils and the wider School
community. The trip is one of a number of high-profile trips
that the School regularly undertakes, which have included a
trip earlier in the year to NASA in Texas and a forthcoming
co-educational Netball and Hockey tour to South Africa in
Summer 2018.