It has been another BUMPER week of Outreach at Francis Holland, Sloane Square.

On Tuesday, seven of our prospective medical students visited Eden Court Retirement Village to take part in a Dementia VR Experience, which helped them to understand some of the challenges that face those who suffer from dementia. We’re so grateful for our close links to Eden Court Retirement Village, where some of our LVI student volunteer each fortnight too!

On Wednesday Christmas truly arrived at FHS as the Dining Hall was full to the brim with wrapping paper, sellotape, jolly Y7 students and presents! Each November, Year 7 pupils, ably supported by the wonderful SSPA, purchase, wrap and deliver over 100 presents to the young and old at the Katherine Low Settlement, a community centre and charity in Battersea that FHS has had a connection with for 100 years (it is named after an old FHS girl too). The Year 7 Form Captains delivered the presents on Thursday morning and managed to decorate the settlement in less than 60 minutes!

The headline event of the week was, of course, the Charity Christmas Fair on Thursday lunchtime. The Hall was full of stalls and games, selling everything from gingerbread to personalised bookmarks! I think I counted three hot chocolate stalls at one point? There were many sweets in many jars, a quiz game, lucky dips, and even an appearance from Santa herself! £966 was raised to be split equally amongst our four core school charities: KLS; In-Deep; Mvumi School, Tanzania; and The Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank. Huge thanks to the staff and students involved in running such a fine array of stalls. FHS-mas is here!

Mr Galloway, Head of Outreach