SUTTON VIEWS - Sutton Valence School

(Underhill as it was then) and the Senior
School, along with his brother James,
following in the footsteps of their father
Peter.
James’ three children, Isaac, Joshua and
Imogen, are keeping the family tradition alive
and also currently attend the Prep School.
The Prep School children are helping to
raise funds for The Children of Yirgaalem,
a struggling township in poverty-stricken
Ethiopia.
The school is working with The
Yirgaalem Appeal Trust, a Maidstone-based
charity which helps to raise funds for vital
health care and medical equipment in the
Ethiopian village, where 1000 children are
too poor to receive basic primary school
education.
The School Council at the Prep School
unanimously agreed to support the project
after hearing a presentation by the charity’s
founder Terry Casey.
Mr Casey addressed the whole school
during assembly and showed film clips of
his own visit to the town, describing the
abject poverty endured by both children
and adults, deprived of basic health and
educational services.
He said, “The children have to walk four
miles to school, with no shoes and no coats
– and yet there is rarely any absenteeism,
Rob said, “It’s a great feeling to see the
play performed at my old school and the
setting is outstanding, with some of the finest
views in Kent.
It’s doubly exciting to have Henry on
board. He’s a great newcomer, with lots of
potential.”
The Prep School ‘twins’ with the children
of Yirgaalam
so keen are they to learn. Sometimes, the
school has to provide the children with a
meal, as they are too tired and
malnourished to learn.”
The Prep School, has arranged a series of
fund-raising events to raise cash for The
Children of Yirgaalem. They have already
had a mufti day and at the end of this term
will be holding a sponsored four mile walk,
to enable our children to experience just
how far the Yirgaalam children walk every
day to get to their school.
Richard Johnson, Head of the Prep
School, said, “Major national fundraisers
such as Comic Relief and Children in Need
mean young people nowadays are very
much aware of the anomalies in society.
“Here we teach them the importance of
charitable fund-raising from an early age
and encourage the children to think of
others who are less fortunate. They were
very keen to support the Children of
Yirgaalem and, in due course, we hope to
strengthen the links between our school
and theirs.”
July 2011 15