Special Award for an Outstanding Response to Covid-19 GODOLPHIN AND LATYMER
From ensuring that timetabled lessons and extracurricular pursuits continued to devising new outreach initiatives, this west London school prevailed through the pandemic
Despite unprecedented challenges and disruption, students, sta , parents and alumnae showed great generosity of spirit, energy and commitment in their e orts to stay connected and to support each other and the wider community.
e school’s new outreach Bridge programme quickly moved online, with nearly 40 primary state school students logging on to live sessions via Google Meet using iPads provided where necessary. e Higher
Education Undiscovered Subjects event, introducing university subjects not normally taught in schools, was relaunched as a series of 30-to-40minute online lectures, which were well-attended by students from its partner senior-state schools. Debating continued to ourish online: Godolphin hosted debating workshops for year seven and eight pupils from local state schools and its teams regularly competed remotely against teams from schools in the US and Spain. e Ancient World Breakfast Club, with more than 200 members from the local community, moved online, which allowed it to introduce speakers from across the world and the podcasts have received more than 4,000 visits. e local community was also invited to the virtual Christmas Stallholders Bazaar.
e Friday Lunchtime Recital Series moved to Soundcloud and has received more than 40,000 plays. Students, sta , parents and alumnae competed in the Weekly Wellness Workout challenge and together ran, cycled and scooted all the way to Australia!
e Daily Dolphin student newsletter and video messages from teachers kept pupils connected and spirits upli ed while sta enjoyed a Weekly Wellness Bulletin. Little Ones was also launched via Google Meet, for sta with small children to share tips and support each other. e school’s alumnae newsletter was published weekly during the rst lockdown and Christmas and school birthday cards were sent out to some of the oldest Old Dolphins. A record number of parents signed up for its online quiz nights.
In the wider community, Godolphin linked up with Certitude, one of
London’s leading adult social care providers, to supply PPE to sta in care homes and the 1st XI hockey squad ran 3,000km in 30 days to raise over £9,000 for NHS Charities Together. Students made face masks for the local community, laundry bags for the NHS Rapid Response Appeal and volunteered with local community groups to support vulnerable people; one student was featured on the BBC News Report, Corona Kindness. DofE students contributed 3,224 hours of voluntary service to the local community; we collected and donated food to the local Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank, presents for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal and raised funds for Children in Need. Students supported Ready Tech Go and Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council by donating used IT equipment, laptops and tablets for children who didn’t otherwise have access to the internet.
e Head Girl set up Mentor Jr and recruited fellow sixth formers to provide a free online mentoring and tutoring service to local primary school pupils. Lower sixth students set up the online Pulsar Science magazine for primary school children to support their interest in science and help with their learning. Head, Dr Frances Ramsey was delighted to accept the award saying, “our students demonstrated great imagination, energy and commitment in supporting each other and the wider community during the pandemic.
I was particularly proud that the judges paid tribute to them and to our Bridge outreach programme which continued remotely during the periods of lockdown.” godolphinandlatymer.com
“OUR STUDENTS DEMONSTRATED great imagination, energy and commitment in supporting each other and the WIDER COMMUNITY DURING THE PANDEMIC”