First Year EDGE looks at ‘Our Footprint’

Over the past week all of our First Year pupils have been to visit the Sal’s Shoes warehouse in Edenbridge, as part of the EDGE programme.  This term, our project is focused on the concept of ‘our footprint’.  Thinking about the way in which we leave an imprint on our local communities and indeed the world, has enabled us to reflect about the sort of impact we want to make at school.  Pupils have been gathering ‘footprints’ of several members of our school community and asked them what mark they leave and the contribution they make to school life.  Visiting Sal’s Shoes and meeting founder CJ Bowry OBE gave pupils the chance to see how this one charity has left its footprint across the UK and the world.  The First Year have now been challenged by CJ to come up with some ideas as to how the charity can improve its current footprint and positively impact more children and families.  The winning ideas will have the chance to pitch directly to CJ at our EDGE presentation event in December which parents and guardians will be warmly invited to.

Mrs Samantha Webster (Assistant Head Teaching and Learning)

Rory in 1S reflected on his time at Sal’s Shoes and said:

“I had a great time at Sal’s shoes. They are a charity that collects shoes and delivers them for free to people who can’t afford them.  We sorted out lots of different pairs of shoes. We had to put rubber bands around a pair of shoes and put them in the correct boxes. It was good fun.  After that, we headed to another room where the CJ spoke about how many people she had donated shoes to in the UK and around the world. It was amazing to see how the effort of one person can make a huge impact on the lives of millions of people who can’t afford school shoes or any other type of shoes. It was also amazing how frequently the shoes come and go.  The donations are enormous. They send hundreds of thousands of shoes to people who need it. They send them across the world. South Africa to Kenya. Uganda to Ghana.  All across the world people are getting hurt from the low quality of shoes or not having shoes at all. CJ’s work inspires me to help others in need of help. I hope this short article inspires you to be like CJ and help. You don’t have to donate just shoes you could start volunteering or giving your time to other charities who need your help.  In EDGE at the moment, we are going round the school trying to collect other people’s footprints of the Caterham community. We have been drawing around the persons’ foot and asking them questions and asking them to describe their role at school. I was lucky enough to speak with the Mr Jones and he said his contribution was to make the school we are part of a happy one.  I would agree.”