Philanthropy is embedded into the curriculum at Dragon School and members of their community have been supporting several initiatives in Oxford during lockdown, which are here described by Ellie King, Director of Social Impact at the Dragon.
Windale Readers
Dragon volunteers who usually go into Windale Primary School in Blackbird Leys to listen to children reading each week have kept this important literacy programme going via an online Book Circle. 12 Dragon community members recorded themselves reading stories for the Windale children to enjoy in their own homes. Nicky, the project organiser and former Dragon parent, worked with the Dragon librarians at Dragon Prep and Pre-Prep to match stories to the primary school curriculum and Windale topics. Around 50 books were chosen for volunteers to create story recordings for the children to watch and read along with.
“We particularly like the introduction where she reminds the children who she is. That makes it much more personal.” – Windale Primary School
Oxford Mutual Aid
Dragon School provided 3,000 meals during the Christmas break to Oxford Mutual Aid, one of the largest providers of emergency support for at risk people in Oxford, working as part of Oxford City Community Food Network.
“Thank you so much to everyone at the Dragon School who helped to provide dinners for people experiencing homelessness. The food was delicious, and very popular, and so nicely chosen. We’re especially grateful for the turkey dinners and Christmas puddings that we handed out on Christmas Eve so that they could be eaten on Christmas Day.” – Oxford Mutual Aid
Laptop collections for refugee children
Encouraged by three alumni, Arthur Higgins, Johnny and Edward Merson, Dragon School have organised for spare laptops to be donated to help refugee children participate in online learning. There is a safe drop-off system for Dragon families to leave their laptops at the School and these are then repurposed and distributed by ‘Asylum Welcome’ in Oxford.
“Education is an imperative for all of us and we have been lucky to attend some of the best schools in the country. However, this comes with a responsibility to use our position to the best of our abilities. From this, we began collecting computers from family members and friends, giving them to Gigafix, a computer repair shop in Oxford, to be wiped and donated to local refugee children.” – Edward Merson, Old Dragon
“The Dragon is a school community where children learn just as much outside the classroom as they do inside it. We teach children to nurture their own wellbeing; we promote kindness and respect, and we encourage a sense of responsibility and service to others.” – Dr. Crispin Hyde-Dunn, Headmaster
For more information, contact pruthvi.trivedi@dragonschool.org