Sunderland pupils sing up to help others at Christmas

Pupils at Castletown Primary School have worked hard to raise money to support charity.

Joan Lumsdon, headteacher at the Grange Road school said the school choir performed at two concerts recently and raised £1,200 from ticket sales, raffles and refreshments.

This money was divided out across the school and each year group decided how they wanted to spend their money with the younger children deciding to buy toys for youngsters in need.

She said: “As a school we are working towards gaining the Rights Respecting Award which identifies the rights of every child. One of the articles states that ‘Every child has the right to play’.

“With this in mind the children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 decided to buy toys for children who were not as fortunate as themselves.

“The children chose toys from catalogues and used their ICT skills to find and order toys using the internet.”

She said two members of staff, Ronnie Humphrey and Natasha Potts, went out to collect the toys and they could hardly be seen when they returned to school because the car was so full.

Teacher, Miss Potts, said: “We wanted the younger children to be completely involved in the whole process.

“To make decisions about what was bought and to know that the toys they had chosen would be going to children who live in Sunderland.”

The toys were collected from the school on behalf of The Salvation Army in Sunderland who will be distributing the toys to children across Wearside.

Mrs Lumsdon said: “The children are very proud of their efforts and hope that lots of children will have a much happier Christmas because of their donations.”