By Mrs Tarrant (Head of Years 7 and 9)

Our Year 7 students truly embraced the spirit of giving during this year’s Service Afternoon on Friday 5th December, bringing in a fantastic range of donations to support families in our community. Pupils arrived with toys, books, chocolates, mince pies and more, ready to be packed into special Christmas boxes.

Working in small groups, the students carefully planned who their box would be for, choosing the age group of the child they wished to support. They then set to work filling their boxes with thoughtful gifts, before decorating, wrapping, and writing personalised cards to the families who will receive them. The room was full of teamwork, creativity and festive spirit as each group worked together to make their box extra special.

All of the completed boxes were warmly received by Michaela from FACES, the Bedford-based charity that supports young families. She was delighted by the kindness and effort shown by our students.

We are incredibly proud of our Year 7s for their hard work and generosity. Their enthusiasm for helping others has made a real difference, and brought a little extra Christmas magic to families in our community.

Siya (Year 7) reflected on the day: “During the Service Afternoon, we worked in groups to choose who we wanted to make our gifts for, some selecting older children and some younger. We collected the items we had donated, including books, toys, food and toiletries, and then wrapped the gifts and boxes, decorating them to make them festive and special. It was lovely to see everyone working together and putting care into each box. At the end, we placed all the gifts by the tree for FACES to deliver to the families.”