Community Work
Home of Middlesex Cricket
MHS is the home of Middlesex ladies cricket. MHS provide the facilities for the overwhelming majority of the ladies training sessions and fixtures
Aims:
Increase the profile of female sport at the school. Develop the schools' facilities and open them up for a greater number of girls/ladies to play.
Background:
Head of Co-curricular met with MCCC five years ago and started the project, which has now been in place (via formal contract) for two years.
Resources:
Crickets pitches, groundmen hours, nets and occasionally indoor space.
Impact:
Girls Cricket is now a major sport at the school. Significant increase in the number of the girls playing sport on the schools' grounds and subsequently experiencing the benefits of competitive sport.
Pupil Involvement:
Girls.
Frequency:
Annually, in the Summer Term
Support for local charities
Mill Hill School supports local charities at key times in the year by encouraging pupils to donate. Our Harvest Festival service, each October, supports the Homeless Action in Barnet initiative, collecting those items needed by the charity to help Barnet's homeless population. Our Parent Association run an annual Foundation coat collection (Coat Drop) in conjunction with London Calling charity. This initiative is Foundation-wide and takes place in the run up to Christmas, when the cold weather is setting in.
Aims:
To support local charities in their activities by pupils offering their "Time, Treasures or Talents". To raise awareness amongst the pupil body of the needs of others and to develop in them a sense of social responsibility.
Background:
The School has a long tradition of supporting local charities and these projects are two of many such initiatives that help those less fortunate than Millhillians. Homeless Action in Barnet was set up by two former Foundation pupils and so the link is strong. The parent Association set up the link with London Calling three years ago and have run an annual Foundation Coat Drop ever since.
Resources:
Time and donations in their various forms- coats, food, toiletries etc
Impact:
Both charities report the value of the ongoing relationship with the Foundation in supporting their work and the Foundation schools recognise the value of such partnerships to their pupils: Tangible benefits to the recipients and a greater sense of social responsibility, and raised awareness of social issues, amongst the pupils.
Pupil Involvement:
All pupils are involved. Mill Hill School has circa 800 pupils (around 65% boys and 35% girls).
Frequency:
Annually.
Panathlon Challenge
This partnership sees our pupils officiate and support at sporting events and competitions arranged by Panathlon Challenge.
Aims:
The project aims to provide our pupils with practical leadership experience gained across a range of different activities. In turn, this aids Panathlon Challenge in running a busy calendar of sporting events and competitions in London and the surrounding area.
Background
This partnership was originally developed by our current Head with a contact at Panathlon Challenge.
Resources:
Our sports leaders use of own school facilities for a weekly development session - including some training by Panathlon Challenge staff. The events themselves take place at a variety of sporting locations across London, including the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Impact:
Allows our own pupils to: gain valuable leadership skills including confidence, communication and empathy; gain experience of the management of sporting events; develop understanding of the rules of a range of sports and experience in applying these as officials; develop a broader understanding of some of the barriers to sporting participation and how these may be overcome. They enable our partner to adequately staff events that provide competitive sporting opportunities to a range of disabled pupils.
Pupil Involvement:
Our year 10 sports leaders, who are a mixed-sex group of up to 45 pupils each academic year.
Frequency:
This is an ongoing partnership with our pupils taking part in around four events per academic year.
Overseas Partnership to Zambia/Zimbabwe
Lower Sixth pupils are selected to participate in the project on an annual basis. We work closely with the charity coaching tag rugby in local community schools. A tournament is organised by our pupils at the end of each coaching week.
Aims:
The charity’s strap line is ‘Building futures through rugby’. Tag Rugby Trust looks to Educate, Engage and have an Impact the pupils under their supervision. Sustainability is key and local Tag Rugby Trust (TRT) Leaders are important in keeping the project alive once we have left to go back to the UK.
Background:
Mr Graham Turner taught in Botswana for three years during which time he taught science and introduced and coached the game of rugby. He gained enormous satisfaction and reward from my time with the odd shape ball and it was nice to give something back to the game. He contacted Tag Rugby Trust (TRT) in 2005 when I took over as Director of Rugby as I believed Millhillians would benefit from the experience of being in Africa and working closely with the local communities. The project initially started with eight Upper Sixth pupils going to Uganda in 2008, with the first official Partnership project going to Zambia in 2013. This year 43 Lower Sixth went out to Africa with 8 members of staff.
Resources:
Rugby balls, tags, cones, bibs and whistles.
Impact:
A life changing experience for many but a hugely emotional reward for all of our pupils involved. An opportunity for our pupils to escape the ‘North London bubble’ and out a different perspective on life only benefits them as individuals. We raise on average £15000 for the charity through a 10K fun run in Regent’s Park.
Pupil Involvement:
Lower Sixth Boys and Girls.
Frequency:
Annually.
Harvest Festival
Mill Hill School collects goods each year to support the HAB Centre's annual 'Harvest Festival'.
Tamil Nadu Sri Jayendra School Partnership Project
This partnership project enables British pupils to experience the culture and history of Tamil Nadu while challenging and stretching them to teach 3-4 hours a day in order to help pupils improve their written and spoken English. The English pupils also raise funds which enable orphans and pupils from very poor families to access this bilingual education and so improve their own future prospects.
Aims:
The aim of the partnership project is to support Sri Jayendra School in 3 main ways; 1) financially, by raising money to fund capital projects and the education of pupils who could not otherwise attend the school; 2) by offering a periodic teacher exchange programme in which teachers from Sri Jayendra visit Mill Hill School for 3 weeks to teach and observe lessons; 3) by taking groups of between 15 and 25 pupils to Sri Jayendra for 2-3 weeks each year so that they can help teach English to the pupils in Standards 5-8 and learn more about the School and Tamil Nadu music, dance and culture in general.
Background:
Usha and Nirmala are the two incredible women who, over 30 years ago, had the vision, dedication and energy to set up and run an 'English Medium' school for the children of their town. Starting with just a dream conceived over their connecting garden fence, they wished to provide the opportunity for pupils in the Sankarnagar District to have a binlingual education - one which would offer them a much greater diversity of employment opportunities - including the opportunity to gain jobs outside the state and, perhaps, internationally. Today the School educates nearly 3,000 pupils (ages 3-18). The level of education that Sri Jayendra provides is first class. A high percentage of their pupils qualify for university, many have won National awards and several have been selected to play sport at national level. Many of the pupils are from very poor backgrounds; some are orphans. The funds raised by Mill Hill School for Sri Jayendra offer these pupils the gift of education and consequently opportunities which would have otherwise been beyond their reach.
Resources:
Only simple resources are required such as mini whiteboards, pens and pencils and coloured paper.
Impact:
During the 20 years of this partnership project Sri Jayendra school has grown from a few hundred pupils to over 3000. While there have been some major donations to support capital projects from Old Millhillians or the parents of Old Millhillians, the funds raised annually support orphans and very poor children from the district who would not otherwise have access to dual language education (state education is only in Tamil). Hundreds of children have been helped over the years and hundreds more will graduate in the future as a result of this partnership. In addition, the teachers who go out to Tamil Nadu - and those Sri Jayendra teachers who come to England - form strong and productive relationships which help develop their skills and pedagogy.
Pupil Involvement:
Lower Sixth Boys and Girls.
Frequency:
The project is repeated annually.
Australian Exchange
Over the past 2 years the 2 schools have created a link for talented sporting pupils to experience sporting school life in opposing schools. The link sees the pupils either reside with families or within the boarding houses.
Aims:
Create sporting opportunities for our elite sports people and create links and opportunities with top rated international schools
Background:
The Head of Co-Curricular contacted SCGS in the hope to increase the opportunities and provision for our sporting elite.
Resources:
Boarding houses/bedroom and time and effort of sporting and boarding staff. Parental funding of airfare.
Impact:
Worldwide connections created, life experience gained, development of sporting skills and coaching ability.
Pupil Involvement:
Mixed gender 16 year old pupils.
Frequency:
Annually, in the Spring and Summer terms.