‘Send our friends to school,’ Belle Vue Boys tell world leaders
A group of year 7 students from Bradford are reminding world leaders that all children should get the chance to go to school.
Pupils at Belle Vue Boys’ School have been busy cutting out ‘buddy chains’ and writing messages about the value of education that may well end up at the House of Commons.
They have explored real-life case studies, analysed why some children – particularly those who are disadvantaged – are missing out on school and what can be done to help them.
It’s part of an initiative backed by the Send My Friend To School campaign, run by the UK coalition of the Global Campaign for Education, which aims to unite children to remind world leaders of their promise that all children should have the right to education.
Asma Khan, the school’s curriculum team leader for PSHCE, told the Yorkshire Standard: “This campaign has been important in raising awareness about those who need education, and also how education is to be valued.
“I’m extremely proud of our students, and they have been empathetic to case studies. After we write to our MP, we will open up a debate as to whether our voice was heard or not. That is the next campaign we will focus on.”
Abbas Khan, a year 7 pupil at the school, said: “It was quite sad seeing how the poor had to live and what problems they had. Everyone should have the chance to go to school, because they are equal to us.”
At the end of the summer term, the school will send its ‘buddies’ with a covering letter to their MP, who will be able to send the messages to the Prime Minister.
Belle Vue Boys’ School was founded in 1877 and alumni at the school include writer J.B. Priestley, the late Bradford West MP Marsha Singh, Baron Kamlesh Patel OBE and actor Simon Rouse who played Jack Meadows in ‘The Bill’.
