Happy New Year - Looking Ahead to 2021
The New Year is a time for hope, for planning, for setting goals and for moving forward and making life better. Dates are a great way to set reminders for ourselves to think about something important. To help you do this we have created a calendar that celebrates Education and Human Rights milestones.
Have a look at our Education Calendar, and see how you can use it in your work, or classrooms.
Education is a Human Right. One thing that 2020 illustrated to everyone is how connected we all are to each other. We do not exist in bubbles, our groups are made up of people in other groups, who are connected to more groups and so on. We have seen the virus spreading rapidly, not just through a country but through the whole world. We are all connected across the world.
This world connection applies to education too. If we are able to get access to quality education right in one country, the problems caused by lack of education in other countries are still going to affect everyone globally. When we have problems in the UK people may be concerned about how we can fix our own problems, but without fixing problems globally new challenges will be created, which affect us all equally.
This year we are asking you to join us to make profound changes in the world.
To make these changes we know that we need to set goals and take action. By sharing our goals, we are not only more likely to reach them but also, we are inviting everyone to join in and help us achieve them.
So here goes - our goals for 2021!
The Positive Periods programme will continue in Sierra Leone and The Gambia and will be replicated in Cuba, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Cambodia. To do this we need to raise £25,000.
We will pilot digital learning in rural areas in The Gambia as part of our Global Digital Divide Research Project. To do this we need to raise £8,000 for equipment and training.
A new Learning Resource Centre will open in The Gambia. We aim to impact 17,600 teachers and their students.
We will support safe learning through providing learning resource packs in Cambodia. We aim to impact 250 children and their families.
We will support literacy learning in Jamaica and Haiti. We aim to impact 650 children and their families.
We will continue to adapt and support the provision of quality education where it is needed most.
Everyone can do something to support Education for all Children Everywhere.
What can you do?
You can sign up for one of our Life Long Learning Webinars. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-steve-sinnott-foundation-31041261381
• You can help us with Resources and research.
• You can write articles for Engage or our blog so we can share all teaching and learning practices globally.
• You can follow us on social media, like and comment to get our engagement levels up.
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
• You can share our work with any new partners who might be interested, we believe working together is winning together.
• It costs £25 for a good quality solar radio which provides lessons for at least 10 children. So, £500 would buy 20 radios and support over 200 children to access learning.
• The materials and training for a making 5 reusable period pads which last a girl up to 3 years is £3 so if you donate £10 a month that is supporting 40 girls in a year. Once a girl has learned this skill, she can manage her periods independently and with dignity and pride.
If you would like to fundraise for us you can find some ideas here:
Wishing you all a positive and peaceful 2021 from everyone at The Steve Sinnott Foundation
The Steve Sinnott Foundation • December 29, 2020
This week while out and about in Hertfordshire and we visited the British Schools Museum. We discovered the first school opened by Joseph Lancaster, was known as the ‘Poor Childs Friend”, was in 1810. It was his lifelong mission that all children regardless of their circumstances, should benefit from an education. Apparently, Joseph heard a small girl say, “Oh that I could read!” and this inspired him to create a simple education system that eventually would benefit children across the world. Joseph was the tenth son of a poor man himself from South London. His aim was to offer free education for everyone. However, it would be 93 years before the U.K. government finally made education free for all. There are still many countries today where education is still not free to access and it is certainly not compulsory for primary and secondary age pupils. Joseph’s mission really resonates with that of the Foundation, to support access to education for all. We enjoyed our visit and appreciated the tour given by two of the Museum’s volunteers, Angela and Clare. They described some of the challenges faced in the early years of formal education and shared some of the rules that teachers and students had to abide by with us.
Sparks Bristol is a collaborative community project initially envisioned by The Global Goals Centre, (GGC) more of which below. A few years ago, GGC took over an empty Marks and Spencer store and that’s how Sparks was born. Sparks is a department store with a difference, co-created by Global Goals Centre and Artspace Lifespace. On the ground floor is a huge range of shops, installations, events and more. Upstairs is a hub for local artists, it offers affordable studios as well as rehearsal and performance space. The Global Goals Centre is a Bristol-based educational charity inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs). GGC believe the SDG’s or Global Goals as they are sometimes known, can be reached, with imaginative solutions and widespread education and engagement. They work with partners to promote creative solutions and deliver ground breaking projects that work towards these ambitious goals. The Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the Global Goals Centre with seed funding when it first started over 5 years ago. This month we went to visit them to see how they are getting on and we were taken aback by the volume of work they have achieved since they started. It is amazing to see how though working together with other local community groups it has grown into the vibrant centre it is today. All of the creative projects they host are linked to the SDGs. They cover topics that tackle poverty, education, climate change, fashion recycling and upcycling, to name a few.
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
