Grace Secondary School

One of our main focuses this term will be to continue to support the building of the Grace School in Sudan, a project mentioned in earlier newsletters: www.gracesecondaryschool.com. To raise funds for this we are holding a “26” challenge day on February 26th that will allow for all members of the school community to be actively involved in building a new school. All the pupils have suggested ideas for this, which have now been collated into a list of the most fun, practical and novel! During the next two weeks each child will choose one to try and complete. They will be coming home with a sponsorship form - can we encourage you to help them collect as many pledges of money as possible.

We would very much like at least 26 parents to be actively involved on this day.

1. To complete 26 rallies of 26 consecutive hits using badminton rackets , tennis rackets or table tennis bats.
2. To run 26 laps of the field in 26 different pairs of shoes!
3. To spot 26 different species of birds at Radipole Nature Reserve
4. To complete 26 cycle laps of the school[ as we did last year]
5. Carry out 26 tasks whilst tied to someone else
6. Make up 26 packs of things to go to Sudan to help in the new school
7. Poker competition
8. To throw 26 eggs 26 times without breaking any
9. To make 26 meals using only 26 ingredients
10. To form the number 26 on the field with as many people as possible
11. For Mr Jenkinson to spend 26 hours on the school roof!!

If there is something in the list that appears on the sponsor forms that you feel up to doing or you would like to create your own idea [ to do with the number 26] then we would welcome you taking part; sponsor forms are available from the school office.

ROOFTOP HEADMASTER INSPIRES FUNDRAISING CHALLENGE
Pupils at St Osmund’s School in Dorchester are taking part in a huge fundraising effort in aid of Grace Secondary School in the Nuba Mountains of the Sudan. A fortnight ago their headmaster Ron Jenkinson spent 26 hours camping on the roof of the school, braving severe storms, and raising £4,000 for the Sudanese School. The school is being built by Dorchester couple Richard and Claire Budd. The couple have raised more than £27,000 since August. The project began after photographer and graphic designer Richard Budd travelled to a remote and deprived part of the Sudan on an assignment. While he was there a young pupil told him that his school was being forced to close due to a lack of funds and once it had closed, the mud hut buildings fell into disrepair.
St Osmund’s School pupils have decided to make Grace Secondary School the focus of their annual “26 Challenge” It takes place tomorrow (Thursday 26th Feb) and pupils will all divide into groups to carry out the following challenges involving the number 26...

Spotting 26 birds at Radipole
Buying as many items as possible for 26p at Tesco
Attempting a world record for 26 pupils doing 2,952 press ups in one hour
Running 26 miles
Cycling 26 miles
Making a quilt (for Africa) with number 26 on it
26 members of staff wearing 26 items of clothing
Art exhibition in South Walks, Dorchester (1pm-3pm)
Making and decorating 26 pieces of honeycombe (Russell from Sienna restaurant in Dorchester to help- 10am- and judge the winner approx 3pm)
Marking out a number 26 in pupils in the school playing field (can photograph from roof – 12.45pm)
And a number of pupils will spend 26 hours sleeping over inside the school.

Pupils have already raised more than a thousand pounds for Grace Secondary School since Ron spent the night on the roof. The total raised so far, by St Osmund’s (before tomorrow’s fundraising) is already more than £5,500.

In order to help put a roof on Grace School Mr Jenkinson is spending 26 hours on the school roof of St Osmund’s from 12pm on February 9th until 2pm on February 10th.

During this time he will only eat the same calorific amount that a Sudanese teenager would eat in the course of a day.

It is hoped that all pupils will support this by bringing in a £1.00 on this day and should you also wish to mark this with a private donation then please do so!