Over the past few weeks, Partnership clubs/activities have started in both the Junior School and Senior School. We now have Brookfield, St. Joseph’s, Whitehall Park and Highgate Primary school pupils alongside Junior School pupils joining in a number of clubs and activities run by Channing staff and Sixth Form Volunteers.

• Problem Solving Club

As Sixth Formers, we lead a weekly problem-solving club for children aged 9 to 11 from the Junior School and Highgate Primary school, fostering a fun and engaging environment for young learners. Each session, we introduce challenging puzzles and collaborative activities that encourage critical thinking and teamwork. Through guidance and support, we aim to inspire a love for mathematics and help the children develop their problem-solving skills. We volunteer because we enjoy helping out with the younger pupils,enjoy Maths and it is a fun break from the rest of our week. The children also make friends from other schools and build their puzzle solving skills.

Caelle and Charlie, Year 13

• Science Club

Every Wednesday after school, a few Year 12 students and I assist Year 5 and 6 from Channing Junior School, Brookfield, Whitehall Park and Highgate Primary schools in a Science club held in one of the Senior school labs. This allows us to help them explore more about science as a whole; for example, last week we examined real human tissue samples, which was fascinating for us all, and allowed us to rediscover the novelty of these exciting experiments we take for granted during our studies, all whilst developing our confidence and communication skills.

Natasha B, Year 12

• Minimus

On Tuesday afternoons, we welcome Year 6 pupils from 3 local primary schools and the Junior School to join Minimus club, where we teach an introductory course to Latin and classical studies. We cover basic Latin phrases, to get the pupils used to some vocabulary, and we look at classical elements too, helping them understand more about ancient culture and lifestyle. It is a really enjoyable time where we get to grow younger students' love for Latin.

• Harry Baker - Creative Writing Workshop

The English A Level cohort, a group of talented Year 10 and 11 GCSE English pupils and invited guests from St Aloysius’ Sixth Form were given a creative writing workshop by the World Champion Slam Poet, Harry Baker. Harry performed a poem about an item which brings him joy: his wellington boots. We were then tasked with writing our own poems about something that brings us joy. Our items ranged from Uggs, keys, cuddly toys and a variety of food items. Afterwards, the whole of Channing Sixth Form, the writing group and guests from Parliament Hill School enjoyed a performance from Harry whose poems were thought-provoking, at times raw, heartwarming and most importantly, fun! Thank you to Harry and all the staff and pupils involved in the event; we look forward to reading some of the work produced in the workshop.

Pupil Testimonials:

‘We really enjoyed Harry Baker’s poetry workshop and performance; slam poetry is not a part of the A-level course, so it helped to give us a new perspective on the way that we study modern poetry. His eclectic mix of hilarious and thought-provoking poems made for an amazing performance! On a more personal note, we both loved creative writing at GCSE, so appreciated the workshop as a chance to get creative in a supportive environment and be inspired by a professional poet.’

‘Harry performed some of his poems for us, many of which had themes of mental health behind them. Including a poem written for his nephew, younger self and anyone who has been or is currently experiencing bullying which spoke about being different and the fact that it isn’t actually a bad thing, it’s just sometimes something that other people don’t understand. He also read to us his poem titled ‘Wonderful’ which is about never taking how amazing life can be for granted. A specific quote from this poem really stood out to me, ‘you cannot be in traffic, without being traffic’. This line made me pause to think about how sometimes I forget that I am not watching life pass me by but rather that I am living life too.

I am ever so grateful to have had this opportunity to hear Harry Baker live and to hear advice through an unusual outlet and I recommend his poetry to everyone.’