Both Lady Bay Primary School and Rushcliffe Spencer Academy celebrated the end of term this July with Spanish themed festivals in aid of The School of Hope in Guatemala.
At Lady Bay many local organisations lent their support to produce a two day non-uniform fiesta of Spanish themed learning, which culminated with the children enjoying a Spanish Cafe. Vanessa Oxspring from VCreate ran dance workshops, Gavin Cox from Happi Chocolate gave presentations about ethically sourcing and lots of yummy samples, Helen Forster from Chocolate Utopia explained the process of making luxury chocolates with gorgeous tasting samples, 200 Degrees gave assemblies about how coffee is sourced from family run farms in Central America with tons of prizes and a competition to design a coffee bag, Kate Hendry from Education For The Children explained what has been happening at The School of Hope in Guatemala over the past year. The children also created flowers to make a ‘Alfombra de Flores’ – Carpet of Flowers’.
After school, parents were treated to Cocktails on the playground with delicious tapas from ViDa by Lorentes restaurant and music from latino duo Mas Y Mas – a fitting end to a two day fiesta.
Over at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy the Esperanza Festival was in full swing. All students enjoyed an afternoon of games, stalls, tournaments, inflatables, crafts, beauty, workshops including donating to see their teachers soaked with sponges or bathing in jelly! They also got to indulge in food stalls from samosas to sweets – there was even a bake-off competition.
Both events raised over £3,100 for Education For The Children, the West Bridgford based foundation who founded and run The School of Hope in Jocotenango, Guatemala. The school was chosen because it aligns with both schools’ Global Citizenship and Spanish curriculum. Jocotenango is an area where extreme poverty, gang crime, domestic violence and alcoholism are everyday realities. Food, healthcare, counselling and career guidance at the school remove obstacles to education and enable the students to realise their potential. Every penny donated by parents and carers will go towards students’ education, food or healthcare in Guatemala.
Tracey Keane, Deputy Head at Lady Bay Primary Day said: ‘It was wonderful to be able to get so many organisations and parents involved with Spanish Day. Our Spanish teacher Eva Lopez worked so hard to enable every student to sample a treat at The Spanish Cafe. The students had so much fun and learnt a lot. It was great to end an upbeat and learning-packed term at Lady Bay – the perfect start to the summer holidays.’
Eva Vicente, Head of Spanish at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy said: ‘After a three year pandemic-enforced break it was amazing to get all the students in the school together to celebrate the end of term and to raise money for such a worthwhile cause. The school field was a fiesta of colour, activity and smiles – everyone had such a good time!’