CHARITY & COMMUNITY
Weekend wonders
Arthur Cheung (Year 12) reflects on the rewards of leading the Saturday School
A water rocket zooms across Dulwich College, filmed by a crew wielding a digital camera of the type that ceased to be at the cutting edge several years ago. Compared to the gigantic metal beasts that routinely approach Heathrow, or the brand new smart devices we all carry in our pockets, the firing of the water rocket and the filming of it might seem unexciting. Yet, for the children who have been participating in the Saturday School, who have come from a number of local schools and who were doing all of these things, this was a brand new adventure. For those of us taking on the roles of leaders, this was the moment perhaps that we realised we were making a difference. A diversity of backgrounds from all across Southwark can be found represented at these sessions, which make up a special programme dedicated not to any specific group of people, but to children who desire an extra day of learning. My fellow coordinator Dmitri and I were responsible for ensuring that the children enjoy their experience, which aims to help them learn new things using methods that are
not readily available at their schools, and by doing this, we hope, inspire in them a desire to aim high and achieve well in the future. We also hope that, following our example, the participants will want to make a difference to other people they encounter in the future. It was our task to guide them through the College’s large and unfamiliar campus and to help them with their experiments and their computers, aided by other helpers from Dulwich and from Sydenham High. By the end of the programme, five boys from Dulwich College and four girls from Sydenham High have given up twenty of their Saturdays, and their commitment and dedication to help others is a credit to them and their schools. Next year, another 70 children from across Southwark will arrive to take part in the journey that the Saturday School offers. I am sure that there will be more of us keen to uphold the College’s traditions of service to others and interested in reaping the rewards of leadership.
41
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker