Operation Bobbi Bear

At this week's meeting the group of students and staff who will be travelling to South Africa in February were introduced to the charity Operation Bobbi Bear, as JGHS will be visiting this organisation for the first time this year.

We first heard about Operation Bobbi Bear through the Jabulani Project, who have been providing volunteers and financial support to the charity for a number of years and have great admiration for the work that they do.

Operation Bobbi Bear was established in 1992 to support and fight for the rights of sexually abused children. They carry out amazing work that includes providing medical and emotional support to child victims of sexual abuse, educating communities about how to support these children, and liaising with the South African legal system to try and ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted without compromising the safety and wellbeing of the child.

Please visit the Bobbi Bear website at www.bobbibear.org.za/ to find out more and watch their excellent video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9ZYXhScls

Fundraising Update

Although there is not yet much money in the bank plans are now moving along for this year's fundraising activities. Each 'family' will be hosting a fundraiser in an attempt to help us reach, or even surpass, our £5000 target. Here is an update on our plans so far...

Mr Charity's Family are organising a raffle and will be selling tickets in the coming weeks once prizes are finalised. They are still appealing for high-quality prizes, so if you think you can help please get in touch via jghssouthafrica@gmail.com. Even if you can't donate a prize remember you will be able to buy tickets soon!

Miss Gray's Family have organised a social for S5 and S6 students at JGHS which will be held on December 11th at the Columcille Centre in Morningside.

Mr Adam's Family will be participating in a sponsored 5km run later this months.

Miss Smith and Miss Grant's Families will be working together to organise an end of term Christmas Party for the S1 and S2 pupils at JGHS.

Miss Campbell's Family will be hosting an "Art Attack" event by selling off sections of wall space in Warrender and Spylaw to be painted by pupils before we move into the new school building next year.

Mr Warden's Family are yet to decide on their fundraiser due to only having been together for a few weeks, but we are looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

In addition to our Family Fundraisers there has been a lot of discussion about other ideas from bake sales to bag packing, and we are also delighted that some enthusiastic S1/2 pupils will be working with Miss Smith to help raise money to buy shoes for the children on Charles Memorial Primary School.

Of course we are also still appealing for donations as shown in the image below. Some of our S6 have also been our to our cluster Primary schools speak to the children about the project and launch appeals for pencil cases and sports equipment to take over to our partner schools.

Please keep up with our achievements over the next few weeks and keep an eye out for how you can support our efforts!

Reflecting on 10 years of the JGHS South Africa Project

The James Gillespie's South Africa Project began back in 2003 when the school's former head teacher, Alex Wallace, first visited Durban and Umlazi and chose to link with Zwelibanzi High School.

Since then, th project has grown from strength to strength and now incorporates links between the JGHS community and is cluster primaries, three South African Schools (Zwelibanzi HS, Dloko HS and Charles Memorial Primary), and a number of charitable organisations supporting disadvantaged young people in South Africa.

The project has contributed to the development of values of Global Citizenship in countless members of the South African and Scottish communities that have been involved in the project over the years, in addition to providing financial and material support for the education and care of young people living in impoversished communities.

In 2015 we hope to share some of the sucesses of our project with the wider community and would like to invite anyone who has been involved in the project to get involved by sharing your thoughts and reflections of your experiences. What did you gain from being part of the project? What affect did your experience have on you? What are your lasting memories of your visit to South Africa? We would love to hear from you!

If you would be willing to share your thoughts (and photographs if you have any) please send them to jghssouthafrica@gmail.com

Many thanks and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Stepping up the preparation for 2015...

With less than 4 months to go before we depart for South Africa this year's group will be really stepping up their fundraising and preparation over the coming weeks. We'd like to take this opportunity to share our plans, let you know what the money we fundraise will be used for and let you know how you can get involved.

Every member of the group going to South Africa in 2015 is part of a smaller group tasked with organising one aspect of this year's project. The activities they are involved in include:


Soup Kitchens

As ever, a large proportion of the money made through fundraising will be used for continued support of the soup kitchens at Dloko and Zwelibanzi. The soup kitchens make a big difference to learners who come from families that find it difficult to provide them with a good meal each day. While we are in South Africa some of our pupils will be learning more about how the soup kitchens are run and how much of a difference they make to the young people at the schools, and will also have the opportunity to cook and serve a meal while they are there.

Cooking in the soup kitchen at Dloko

School Improvements

Some of this year's fundraising money will be used to make improvements to some of the classrooms at Dloko High School that are in most need of a little TLC. The atmosphere of learning environments make a real difference to the classroom experience, so teams of Dloko and Gillespie's learners will be working together to paint classrooms and make them more positive places for studying. We will also be collaborating with the teachers at Dloko and Zwelibanzi to found out if we can provide low-cost teaching resources that would help to facilitate day to day learning and teaching.

In a classroom at Dloko

Pen Pal letters

S1 pupils at JGHS write pen pal letters to South African learners as part of the English curriculum. A team of JGHS pupils will be taking these letters over for the grade 8s and Zwelibanzi and Dloko and will bring replies home for our S1s. Through this scheme we hope to foster a link between students in Scotland and South Africa from their first year in secondary education, and help them to learn a little about another culture.

Reading penpal letters at Zwelibanzi

Cultural exchange

The most importnat aspects of our trip are the cultural exhange between South Africa and Scottish learners and staff, and the global citizenhip values that the trip promotes. During their visit the Gillespie's pupils will be bale to experience lessons in the township schools and will also be participating in a number of cultural workshops. The Gillespie's pupils will be offering workshops in Highand and ceilidh dancing, music and sports and will be given the change to learn some traditional zulu song and dance in return.

Singing and dancing with the choir at Dloko HS

Donations

Although our project focuses on global citizenship, empowerment and cultural exchange we do like to take over donations for the South African learners who are not able to afford some of the things that we often take for granted. Over the coming weeks we will be sourcing donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste and will also be trying to collect enough black gym plimsolls to provide a pair for every child at Charles Memorial Primary School, the school linked with James Gillespie's Primary School. As a treat for the high school learners we will also be collecting football tops for the boys and dresses for the girls. All donations are very welcome!


Fundraising... can you help us?

To allow us to continue to support the soup kitchens in our partner schools and make the planned improvements to the school environment we are hoping to raise as much money as we can this year. There will be a number of fundraising activities going on over the coming weeks so keep checking the blog for updates!

At the moment the 'Charity Family' are organising a raffle to be drawn at the end of term before the Christmas break. We are appealing for high quality raffle prizes (restaurant vouchers, theatre tickets, beauty treatments, days out etc) and would love to hear from you if you think you can help! Please contact jghssouthafrica@gmail.com.

Update from parents' meeting on October 7th

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting last night. A powerpoint summary containing most of the information that was shared can be accessed here.

The final parents' meeting will be on 13th January at 7pm in the Darroch resource centre. Please ensure that somone from your family is able to attend this meeting as important information will be shared.

To keep up to date with what is going on with preparations for the trip all pupils should join the facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/jghssa2015).  Parents are also invited to join the group as your support and involvement is welcome and much appreciated.

Parents' Meeting for 2015 trip

Just a quick reminder that we are hold a meeting for parents on Tuesday 7th October at 7pm in the Resource Centre at Darroch.

We'll be sharing more information about the trip and what's coming up over the next few months and will also be able to answer any questions that you may have.

Hope to see you there!

Fundraising

Now is a good time to start thinking about ways you can contribute to fundraising for the project. The more money we raise, the more we will be able to invest in continuing to support the development of our partner schools.

A number of people have expressed an interest in organising fundraising events which is fantastic, however these will need to be well planned and you will need to discuss your ideas with the staff going on the trip.

If you'd like to organise a fundraising event please download and complete the proposal form below and come and chat to one of the staff about getting your idea off the ground.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6p8a86ggm0r557y/Fundraising%20proposal%20form.docx

Keeping in the loop...

Remember there are loads of ways to keep up to date with what's going on with the project!

If you are going on the trip this year join the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/jghssa2015

Parents, pupils and others interested in keeping up to date with the project can also follow us on twitter @jghssouthafrica and check this blog regularly for news and updates.

Information about the meeting will be shared through all three sources as soon as dates and times for these have been decided.

And finally remember Mr McCallum's homeworks for the next meeting:

1.  Make sure your EE2 is haded in and that your passport will be valid for 6 monts after out date of return to the UK
2. Go and see your doctor to enquire about travel vaccinations.
3. Investigate potential contacts who might be able to support the project!

Two weeks of fun and friendships

The choir perform at Assembly Rooms
(photo from the Jabulani Project)

On Sunday we bid a sad 'farewell and see you soon' to our wonderful friends from the Dloko High School choir as the end of their visit to Edinburgh to perform at the Fringe festival reached its conclusion. The trip was a resounding success which allowed this phenomenally talented group of young people - many of whom have never before left Umlazi township - to enjoy experiencing a different culture, be empowered by sharing their love of music and raise a huge amount of money that will be used to support projects tackling poverty in their local community. We at James Gillespie's feel so proud to have played a part in this amazing event and are delighted that the link between our two schools is now stronger than ever.

The schedule for choir's visit was incredibly busy and it would be impossible to document every event in detail but some of our top highlights included:

• 6 shows at St Andrew's and George's West Church.
• 2 shows at Woodend Barn in Banchory.
• 3 shows at the Assembly Rooms with the JGHS chamber choir and Anna McLuckie, including selling out the on the final night and having to open the upper balcony!
• Appearing on the BBC Culture Studio with Janice Forsythe.
• Filming on an Edinburgh tram for BBC Edinburgh Extra.
• A visit to the Scottish Parliament.
• Special performances at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Montessori Nursery.
• A visit to JGHS to join in with classes and perform for staff and pupils.
• Countless open stage performances at St Andrew's Square and other promo performances around the city.
• Shopping for new shoes at Schuh thanks to fundraising lead by the Assembly Rooms.
• A final night party at Darroch with an experimental fusion of Zulu and Scottish traditional dancing!

The Dloko HS Choir and JGHS community on the final night
(photo with thanks to Ian Miller)

Unbelievably in addition to all of this there was still plenty of time for making strong friendships with the pupils, parents and former pupils of the JGHS network who kindly opened their homes to host the youngsters during their time in Edinburgh and spent time buddying the group on their travels around the city. There can be no doubt that the past two weeks have been a wonderful showcase of the strength, kindness and generosity of the JGHS community of which we are so proud.

We would like to thank all of the many people who helped to make this trip so wonderful, but special thanks must go to the following, as without their hard work and generosity it would never have been possible:

• The Iris Initiative, who funded the choir's travel to Edinburgh.
• The Jabulani Project, lead by Alex Wallace, for the huge amount of hard work in getting ID cards, passports and visas for the pupils.
• The parents, pupils and former pupils of JGHS who hosted and buddied the pupils and staff during their stay.
• The Assembly Rooms Fringe and St Andrew's and St George's West church, who provided their venues free of charge to allow revenue from ticket sales tobe fed back into projects in the school's local community.

Finally, we'd like to thank our friends from Dloko High School for allowing us to share two weeks of music, dancing and sheer joy. We have gained so much from you during your time here and those of us travelling to South Africa next year can't wait to see you again soon!

Last meeting before the summer holidays - Wed 25th June

It's really important that everyone going to South Africa attends the last meeting before the summer next Wednesday in the Darroch resource centre. The only exceptions are people who will be away on other trips. Mr Wallace is coming in to talk to you as your first guest speaker - make sure you are there!

The Dloko Choir Needs You! (Part 2)

We're still short of families from the JGHS community to host the pupils coming over to perform with the Dloko choir in August. If you think you can offer accommodation in your house for one or more pupils for any number of days during the period of August 3rd-17th we'd really love to hear from you.

This is a fantastic opportunity to support the South Africa project and for Gillespie's pupils to get to know some of the pupils from Dloko so we'd like to extend this opportunity to all pupils across the school, whether or not they are able to visit South Africa themselves.

If you can help please email Lisa Gray who is coordinating the hostings (lisa.gray@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk).

The Dloko Choir Needs You!

I hope that by now many of you will have heard that the wonderfully talented choir of Dloko High School are coming to Edinburgh in August to peform at the Fringe festival. This has been made possible by the work of Andrew Paterson of the John Byrne award, and former JGHS head teacher and founder of the Jabulani project, Alex Wallace.



The choir will be performing at various times throughout the festival, but are putting on three extra-special shows at the Assembly Rooms on August 12th, 13th and 14th. These dates are special for two reasons. Firstly - through a parent with connections at the Assembly Rooms - the venue has been offered for no charge, meaning that all proceeds from ticket sales can be fed back to the Dloko High School and its wider community. Secondly, the James Gillespie's Chamber Choir will be performing on stage with our South African friends for the finale item. These shows are sure to be an unforgettable experience, showcasing exceptional talent.  For more info follow this link.

To make this event as sucessful as it can be we really need the JGHS community to get on board, and there are a few ways thyou can get involved...

1. Come and see the show. Tickets are being offered at a discounted rate of £12 for JGHS pupils, parents and alumni and are available at the school reception.

2.  Encourage your friends and family to come and see the show too! Tickets for the general public are on sale now for £15, and can be bought online by following this link.

3. Join the JGHS chamber choir and perform. We're still looking for enthusiastic singers! Contact rachel.millar@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk for more information about joining and rehearsals.

4. Offer to host Dloko pupils during their stay. We're looking for host families from the JGHS community to offer accommodation to members of the choir during thier stay in Edinburgh from August 3rd-17th. If you think you might be able to help out by offering space in your home for a few nights please contact Lisa Gray at the school (lisa.gray@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk).

Hope to see you at the shows in August!

Information from Parents' Meeting on June 17th

Thanks to all who attended yesterday's parent's meeting - your support is valued as always. We've summarised as much of the information as possible below for those who couldn't make it along.

Mr McCallum provided information about the organisation and admin of the trip. Most of the information is summarised in his powerpoint presentation, which can be viewed by following this link

Miss Gray gave an overview of the purpose of the trip, and what we get up to while we are away in South Africa. Here is a link to her powerpoint presentation.

Miss Grant talked about what happens in the months leading up to the trip from now until we leave in February. This covered both what is expected of the pupils, and how parents can get involved. Here is a link to her powerpoint presentation.

The next parent's meeting will be on Tuesday 7th October at 7pm in the resource centre at Darroch. We will send a reminder about this after the summer holiday.

We hope this inforamtion is of use, and hope to see you all on October 7th!

South Africa 2015 letter

Here is the letter issued to S5 students at the meeting last Friday.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0wwrxt2qwcbdp2/SA2015.doc

South Africa 2015 meeting

Attention all S5 pupils going to South Africa next year!

There's a meeting with Mr McCallum this Friday (9th May) at 10:30 at Darroch. Attendance is very important!

Debrief Meeting

Many thanks to all the parents and pupils who attended the Debrief meeting two weeks ago. For those of you who were unable to attend, here are links to the photo slideshow and Powerpoint presentation that were used.

Slideshow - https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ce6l48uzyt71fc/SA2014%20Slideshow.m4v

Presentation - https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlih7htgmflmhp8/SA%20debrief%20presentation.pptx

Reminder - Final Parent's Meeting

The final parent's meeting for the trip will be held on Tuesday 28th February at 7pm in the Dining Centre at the Lauderdale Street campus.