42 Students, 16 placements and 1 day to do some good for our community.
Wester Hailes Education Centre takes pride in its community and helps surrounding organisations by volunteering in a range of different activities. Volunteering is recognised as a vital part of education as it can boost confidence, organisational skills, help to gain experience for further education or work and it allows you to make great connections with others and different organisations.
6 students in S4 visited 3 feeder primary schools – Clovenstone, Sighthill and Canalview to support young pupils with their literacy skills. S4 student Courtney Simm said that it was nice to see such a positive relationship with the children and the teachers. Pupils also entertained younger children at WHEC pool and Rainbow under Five.
We heard that WHALE ARTS might be in need of a makeover and so during a discussion event there, we offered our suggestions about how the summer programme could be used to engage a wider range of activities as well as putting forward our ideas to jazz up the outside and make it look more attractive.
Mohammed and Angela are now branded as the new “Cake Bosses”. The duo showed off their culinary skills at Broomhouse Café having a great time with customers and while helping prepare food.
It was all hard work and no play at the Water of Leith, high-vis vests and wheelbarrow in hand, our five hard workers were gritting paths and providing a space for the public to enjoy the scenic sights of Slateford.
Our cleaning efforts unearthed a discarded tyre, a broken tree and four bags of rubbish when we had completed our litter pick along the canal courtesy of Union Canal Boats.
Kyle got to meet five Hearts players at Heriot-Watt Sports Centre where he volunteered with South West Edinburgh Community Sports Hub.
Health and Wellbeing were the buzzwords of the day for pupils visiting Bridge8Hub, Edinburgh College and Wester Hailes Edible Estates to work with Youth Vision. Activities ranged from canoeing along the canal to gardening at Calder’s Crescent. The pupils involved were delighted that it didn’t pour during their placements.
Back in the library it was time for a conference call with the Community Media Development Worker at Digital Sentinel, to share our ideas for WHEC and Digital Sentinel. There were so many photos and great copy we had a lot of editing to do by the deadline.
Signing off after a great day….
Rebecca Crawford, Stephanie Margetts and Mark McKie.
Excellent – well done to all the pupils involved! It’s great to see so many young people helping out in their local community and supporting some fantastic projects