Calthorpe Park students to visit Sri Lanka

15 students and two teaching staff from Calthorpe Park School in Fleet will be visiting Sri Lanka for 10 days this October as the culmination of a year’s planning.

A key activity during the stay will be to work with Pulliyadimunai Secondary school in Batticaloa. Calthorpe Park has been in contact with the school since 2011,   and the students, from Years 10 and 11, have been organising resources and activities to use with the Sri Lankan students. Equally the Fleet students will use their resources in local Nursery Schools in the Eastern Sri Lankan town, to play with the children there who live in some of the poorer and more remote areas.

The group will be first flying to Colombo, and firstly enjoy some sights, including the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala, The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and a game of cricket with a local school. Then they proceed east to Batticaloa to complete their community project.

The visit has been organised in association with Fleet-based charity Ocean Stars Trust (Registered Charity 1110022) which has been providing support for shattered Sri Lankan communities since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. For further information about the Charity, please visit www.oceanstarstrust.com  The charity was established in January 2005 by Fleet resident Dilanee Bunter who was born in Sri Lanka.  

Apart from the fear of spiders the students are all “full of excitement” about their trip. Rachel Angel Teacher in Charge said “I am very proud to be part of the first ever group of pupils from Calthorpe Park School to visit Sri Lanka. I am sure it is going to be a life changing experience for us all.”