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School community 48 Vol 6.1

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Charity begins at school

Raising money for charity is more than just an act of kindness. Here, Claire Cruft explains how engaging staff, students and parents in charitable events unites the school community, teaches valuable life skills and gives students the space and opportunity to discuss difficult subjects such as cancer.

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cademic success is not the only spoke in the wheel of a well-rounded adult. Employers are looking for young people who are rounded and grounded. In the CBI’s 2014 ‘Changing the Pace’ survey, employers outlined that they are looking for teamwork, self-management, problem solving, communication and enterprise skills.1 These skills aren’t only vital for work but for learning and life. At Macmillan, we believe that teaching our young people to be selfless, to think of others ahead of themselves, and to support good causes – great and small – is as important as teaching them to read and write.

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A generous generation The evidence suggests that young people today instinctively want to give. Data from the Charities Aid Foundation’s ‘Growing up Giving’ report shows that when it comes to charity and to charitable donations, young people expect much of society – of businesses, of parents and indeed of themselves.2 Teenagers see charities and social enterprises, alongside personal volunteering and social action, as the most important agents for positive change in their local communities with three out of five thinking the most positive impact in their communities is from ‘charities and social enterprises’.3 In fact, young people give a considerable sum to charity – over £100 million per year – with a third of young people giving to charity in a typical month4. Not only is school the second most common way for young people to hear about charities, it is the main way that young people can be encouraged to get more involved with charities. By helping young people to help others, we have the opportunity to build an even stronger culture of giving in the future.

The data suggests that there is a demand for schools to talk and engage more with charities, with over a million young people saying they would welcome more learning about charity at schools. When the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) asked young people how they might be encouraged to become more involved with charities, the answers focused on school: ■ ■ ■

61 per cent said ‘school arranging for us to do some work for a charity’. 53 per cent welcomed the idea of ‘charity themed days at my school’. 49 per cent welcomed ‘charities coming to my school’.5

Teachers, as well as their students, are advocating charity in schools according to CAF, who conducted interviews with 200 teachers as part of their research. This isn’t surprising, considering the average donation from a primary school was £2,687 and secondary schools, £6,895.6

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Adding altruism to the curriculum

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More than 83 per cent of teachers think that charity should be an integral part of school life and 95 per cent of the general public believes that schools have an important role in forming attitudes towards charitable giving. School senior leadership teams recently voted for the charities they were most likely to support in the next 12 months. Macmillan Cancer Support made the top three.7 This mirrors general populace attitudes with Macmillan being named the best charity brand of 2013 by the research firm YouGov. This also mirrors the desires of young people who want to support charities that reflect their needs and experiences. With cancer affecting 1 in 3 people, young people are likely to know a teacher, friend or family member living with cancer. In addition, cancer is the most common cause of death in children aged between one and 14 years. Headteacher, Alison Kriel from Northwolds Primary School in Hackney, London, highlights why supporting a charity like Macmillan matters to staff and pupils: ‘Every member of staff and a large number of children in the school have lost loved ones to cancer. These tough times have united us in that we have all received amazing support from Macmillan. Our fundraising work has resulted in pupils learning resilience, kindness, responsibility to the community and how to work together as a team.’

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Starting the conversation The vast majority of people are or have been affected by cancer in some way, either directly or indirectly. Despite the impact of cancer, many young people haven’t been given the information they need to understand it or the opportunity to discuss it. Macmillan’s school initiatives are designed to help school staff start the conversation about cancer and support Macmillan’s aims of ensuring no one faces cancer alone. Just over a quarter of children have been taught about cancer at school but shocking figures from Macmillan show there is room for improvement. A poll of 500 schoolchildren showed that nearly a quarter of a million nine to 16year-olds believe cancer is contagious. Nearly all (97 per cent) surveyed were unaware that sunburn can cause cancer, one in eleven (nine per cent) don’t know that smoking causes it, whilst two per cent think you can get it from being badly behaved. And it isn’t just the causes of cancer that confuse children. One in five (21 per cent) believe that cancer is always fatal and over half (52 per cent) don’t know what cancer is. This is despite two-thirds (67 per cent) knowing someone who has been diagnosed with it. It is not surprising, therefore, that over half (53 per cent) say the word ‘cancer’ makes them feel frightened. The unknown is always scary and as cancer affects more and more people, the chances of children knowing someone with the condition grows. This can be really distressing and they may feel too worried to ask questions. The free activity from Macmillan, ‘What is cancer? Get the facts’, is a great way to work with primary-age children in PSHE/health and wellbeing to increase their understanding of the basic facts about cancer and address common fears and misconceptions. Pupils will learn about the main treatments used in the fight against cancer as well as common side effects. The resource will help you to explain to your class that cancer is a disease that’s been around for a long time and continues to affect large numbers of people. Too often, people have been scared to talk about cancer but not talking about it can make it seem scarier and more confusing. This activity could spark a discussion around how pupils feel about cancer and whether they have been personally affected by it. You can download this activity pack for free from the TeachingTimes website.

Macmillan’s work with schools Macmillan Cancer Support offers schools a range of opportunities to get involved with charitable initiatives, from our World’s Biggest Coffee Morning to our new schools’ Dress Up and Dance initiative – a fun non-uniform day developed with teachers and based on research with schools. Dress Up and Dance asks children to don their finest dancewear in return for a £2 donation to the charity, which last year raised almost £100,000. Once registered, schools receive a toolkit written in conjunction with Stagecoach Theatre Arts schools, with fun and educational activities and teaching materials that tie into the National Curriculum. Overwhelmingly schools told us they wanted something easy and fun with added

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value. We also wanted to offer something that promoted healthy living and physical activity, opened conversations about cancer and supported the curriculum. The ICSSPE has highlighted that physical activity helps children to develop respect for their own and other people’s bodies, contributes to the development of body and mind, enhances self-esteem and confidence, and helps increase cognitive development and academic achievement.8 Dress Up and Dance is aimed primarily at primary schools, but a wide range of schools and groups take part including non-uniform groups and secondary schools. The initiative, now in its second year, is proving hugely popular with 2,700 schools and a range of other settings including nurseries, Scout groups, dance studios, Stagecoach Theatre Arts, pre-schools and Guides and Brownies groups already registered. Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is celebrating its 25th birthday next year, and raised a record-breaking £20 million last year. It began in 1990 when a group of local fundraisers got together for a coffee and is now one of the biggest events of its kind, winning numerous awards including being voted ‘greatest world changing fundraising initiative’. Through consulting closely with schools, teachers and pupils over the years, Macmillan has worked to ensure these initiatives are rewarding for the whole school community. With teachers under pressure with busy timetables, Macmillan’s school initiatives are underpinned by relevant and interesting lesson and assembly ideas alongside a range of fundraising goodies. Our plans are to extend our work with secondary teachers even further in the future to tap into the 72 per cent that want to spend more time on charity.9


Bringing the school and community together

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Schools are community hubs and charity fundraising is a great way to bring the community together behind causes that unite staff, parents and young people – whether it’s a coffee morning or a Dress Up and Dance performance. Below are a range of strategies you could use in your school to make the most of charity initiatives.

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Give pupils ownership of how they engage with charities Macmillan’s top fundraiser for World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is a secondary school in Scotland. The sixth year students each year are given the opportunity to take over the orchestration of all the activities. They handle everything, from making pitches to local companies for matched giving to the digital marketing. The students were so prolific with their digital marketing they helped World’s Biggest Coffee Morning to trend on twitter. Ensure that young people are made aware that charitable activities can also count towards UCAS points with ASDAN for students going to university, helping them to showcase their team work, problem-solving, communication and enterprise skills. Make use of teaching resources offered by charities to tie activities into the curriculum For example, Macmillan has produced the Talking About Cancer toolkit which teachers can access for free to support them with preparing lessons and discussing cancer openly and honestly. Created with the help of Macmillan cancer experts and teachers, this free resource answers questions, dispels misconceptions and allows students to understand what cancer is and how it affects people. Our ‘Talking to children and teenagers when an adult has cancer’ booklet provides support and advice to anyone wondering how to cope with children and teenagers when an adult they know or are close to has cancer.

Encourage pupils to think more deeply about charity work Get them to consider why their donation is needed, where it is going and how it is being used. Support pupils to research and understand how charities work and operate. Do they understand what criteria need to be met for an organisation to become a charity? For example, do they know that Greenpeace Ltd are not a registered charity due to the nature of some of their campaigning activities? Have they looked at the charity’s annual report and explored the types of projects they support? See what problems they face, and where they are allocating their resources. Examine what, if anything, marks a charity out from others working in a similar field.

Access support and advice for your school as needed Charities will offer a wide range of resources in different formats to support your school and teaching staff. Macmillan have developed an array of resources for young people including ‘Let’s Talk About You’ – a handbook for young carers aged 12-18 covering the practical and emotional aspects of caring for someone affected by cancer. There is also ‘I’m Still Me’ – a guide written specifically for young people with cancer covering everything from relationships to medical terms.

Make a difference to your school Supporting a charity like Macmillan will make a real difference in your local community. One of the many ways Macmillan helps support communities is by giving out over £160,000 worth of grants to help families of children with cancer. Importantly as a school, you are helping to give young people the information they need and the opportunity to discuss cancer openly, ensuring no one feels alone. However your school chooses to get involved with charitable activities, charities like Macmillan are here to make it a valuable and rewarding experience for all.

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Work with your student council to give them a vote in your charity of the year choices Do pupils understand the history of the charities and why they were founded? Is there a personal reason to support a charity? At Macmillan, our schools often tell us their school community has been impacted by cancer and we also get requests to help support where stigma and fear are leading to bullying.


Claire Cruft manages Macmillan’s national schools and youth programme. For more information on Macmillan Cancer Support and their work with schools, visit their website here.

References

Knowledge trails 1) Going global – John Dowler explains how Save the Children’s World Marathon Challenge made global citizenship relevant and accessible to all students, no matter their background or ability. library.teachingtimes.com/articles/going-global-slt 2) Pupils as school leaders – Jason Cauchi describes an original approach to developing 21st century skills through a very old and well proven idea – service to others. library.teachingtimes.com/articles/pupils-as-school-leaders

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1. CBI (2014). Changing the pace: CBI/Pearson education and skills survey 2013. 2. Charities Aid Foundation (2013). Growing up giving: Insights into how young people feel about charity. 3. Birdwell, J. (2014). Introducing Generation Citizen. [online] Available at: [Accessed 12/06/2014]. 4. Charities Aid Foundation (2013). Growing Giving Parliamentary Enquiry: Summary of evidence. [online] Available at: [Accessed 12/06/2014]. 5. Charities Aid Foundation (2013a) op.cit. 6. Jem Education Direct (2013). Charitable giving by schools. 7. ibid. 8. ICSSPE (2001). World Summit on Physical Education (Berlin, International Council for Physical Education and Sport Science). 9. Charities Aid Foundation (2013) What do teachers think about charity in schools? [online] Available at: