There is no doubt that schools are under extraordinary pressure at this time. A twin attack of funding shortfalls and increasing pressure on targets, curriculum and staff time are making in increasingly hard for schools to book activities.
We know our outcomes are amazing and we are humbled by the ingenuity of the staff we continue to work with as they find funding with the support of parents, PTA’s and funding. But we are also aware that we now work in less inner city schools than we have in the past and very few Secondaries. Its a real shame because we know from teachers that for many students our visits were turning points in regaining pride and examining aspirations in a new light.
We Have No Money, What Can We do?
1. We have resources online which are free to teachers. Please do let us know if you would like us to add some content. For us changing perceptions of Africa and of Africans is central. We now reach over 3000 teachers with these resources and we would like to make them even better.
2. Funding, We have recently completed a tour of North Wales covered by a “rural schools grant” and we are now exploring Music for all funding. Please keep an eye out in your local area for funding streams and let us know if we can help in your applications.
3. Parent power – we work with a number of schools where the visit is paid for in part or in whole by parental contributions. We can help by ensuring students have something to take home at the end of the day and by putting together a short performance to parents at the end of your school day.
4. Discounts – if you are able to hold a workshop in December or September we maybe able to work with you to offer a discount, simply because our practitioners are less busy at these times. In the same vein if you are able to place a link to our website from your school website we can offer an automatic 15% discount – simply because it allows us to decrease our advertising spend with google and reach more schools.
5. Joint Visits – If you have just one class or you are a smaller school we are very happy to visit two schools in one day. This means you can share not only the day rate, but also the transport costs – making an event much more affordable.
We Cannot Afford a Visit – But we Would Like You To Still Exist
1. If we have visited your school in the past please share a google review about our visits and please share our organisation and what we do with fellow teachers and local schools.