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Brick by brick
Helping a school in Ghana
The first topic that Year 9s study in Geography is Global Development and at Deer Park we explore Ghana’s development as a case study. Pupils examine the factors that have led to Ghana’s development over time and consider the differences in lifestyles between the UK and Ghana.
In 2017 Cirencester Deer Park School formed a link with two schools in Ghana when our first volunteering trip took place to the south of the country. Year 9 pupils in the UK benefit from the first-hand, on-the-ground experience of Deer Park staff who have worked alongside our volunteers in Woe, and our pupils have an amazing opportunity in Year 9: to sign up to volunteer in Ghana themselves when they are in Year 10.
The company we travel to Ghana with, African Adventures, are currently running a campaign called Brick by Brick, aiming to raise vital funds to complete the building of a new two-storey, eight classroom block at Dedzidi Community School. This is a school we have spent time in over the past three years on our volunteering trips. Previous groups of Deer Park pupils have helped to build a toilet block at Dedzidi and also moulded over 200 bricks for the first stage of the classroom extension. We are, therefore, very aware of the big difference that this build will make to Dedzidi School. Currently, classrooms are not fit for purpose and the new extension will improve conditions in the school and also increase the capacity of classrooms, meaning that more pupils will be able to access an education.
In Year 9 Geography lessons this Autumn, we have set our pupils a challenge. Each time they complete an excellent piece of Geography classwork or homework, they will be 'awarded' a paper brick. 10 paper bricks will become a real brick donated to the Brick by Brick campaign. In this way we hope that our 4th group of Year 10 pupils, who are visiting Ghana in July 2020, will be able to mould the bricks donated by our Year 9s.
If you would like to make a donation to the Brick by Brick campaign, you can do so via the African Adventures website, by text, or by sending them a cheque. Read more...
You can read about our volunteering trips (including making bricks at Dedzidi in Ghana 2019) in the Trip Reviews below.
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