Squirrels in the Community

Warwick Preparatory School was keen to focus its charity efforts on instilling the values of compassion and kindness into the hearts of everyone in the school, fostering a culture of empathy and care, with a mission to help the community.

Aims

Our aim was to empower pupils to become positive citizens, to encourage respect for others and to foster a culture of empathy and care by helping those in need in the local area.

Background

Working with Kissing it Better, our initiative ‘Squirrels in the Community’ has become an important part of our school calendar. We have hosted several musical concerts for local care home residents where pupils have enjoyed playing and interacting with the residents.

For our first ‘Squirrels in the Community’ event, we invited residents from local care homes to our
Music School to enjoy a celebration of music with joyful singing from pupils in Year 2 and Year 4,
along with superb musical performances from some of our musical groups. A delicious lunch prepared for by our catering team followed where the Head and Deputy Head Girls and House Captains enjoyed getting to know the residents.

We held our second ‘Squirrels in the Community’ event in the beautiful St. Mary’s Church, Warwick
as part of their Christmas Tree Festival. Working again with Kissing it Better, we invited senior
community members from local homes to enjoy a musical feast performed by our pupils. With the
Christmas lights twinkling and candles flickering, the audience was treated to performances from our music ensembles of ‘Walking in the Air’, ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and ‘Carol of the Bell’, to
name but a few.

Resources

WSF facilities

Impact

The residents remarked on the exceptional musical talent of our pupils and very much enjoyed attending the special community events.

The events have taught the pupils the importance of
connecting with the community and making a positive contribution to society.

The events have shown the pupils the importance of giving back and have encouraged personal and social
development, enriching their life skills and values.

Pupil Involvement

Primary school age

Girls

Frequency

On-going