Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pupils have charity events down to a tea
Raising funds and awareness
Tireless pupils and staff at a Coatbridge school marked National Autism Week by popping the kettle on and brewing up a storm for invited guests.
St Stephen’s Primary’s fun- filled afternoon tea was attended by parents, family members and representatives of charities HOPE for Autism and Blue Sky Autism Project.
Donations taken from stalls, a hamper sale, a ‘guess the doll’s name’ competition and other attractions helped the school raise £500, which will go towards both charities and to help set up another sensory room in the school.
St Stephen’s has its own Language and Communication Support Centre (LCSC), comprising of a small number of classrooms catering to children with speech, language or communication needs, and LCSC pupils mixed with their “mainstream” counterparts to wow their parents and guests with an informative series of presentations and question-and-answer sessions.
Ann Binks, the school’s business partner and beloved Coatbridge Asda fundraising champion, was on hand to lend her support and head teacher Martine Watt was thrilled with the contributions of everyone involved in the school’s National Autism Week events.
Acting depute head, Sandra McGhee, added: “Every year the school supports National Autism Week with a variety of activities.
“Primary Seven pupils do presentations to all classes and teachers plan their lessons to focus on autism and autism awareness.
“For our afternoon tea, we invited representatives from HOPE for Autism and Blue Sky along to deliver presentations to teachers and parents.
“The feedback we have received has been sensational and they were very impressed by the knowledge provided by pupils and the charities.
“We’d like to thank everyone involved in the week’s events who helped to make them such a success.
“Parents provided home baking and our staff were brilliant in setting everything up and decorating the classrooms and hall.”
Ms McGhee added: “It was very much the children leading the learning and they had a great time.
“Pupils paid £1 on the final day of the week to dress down and wear blue, pink and purple clothing – the colours of the autism awareness campaign.
“Our teachers plan collegiately for lessons and our mainstream and LCSC pupils can come together and learn together as we promote an inclusive education.”