St Albans school’s spelling bee fundraiser

AN INSPIRING assembly led pupils at a local junior school to raise an “amazing” amount of money for charity.

Towards the end of January, the NSPCC went to Cunningham Hill Junior School in St Albans and held an assembly which focused on issues of child abuse and how to safeguard children.

At the end of it, children across the school were asked to take part in the Buddy Spelling Sprint – a list of 15 spelling challenges that pupils had a week to learn.

Children were encouraged to find sponsors who would donate money for every answer they got right. In the space of around two and a half weeks, the school managed to raise �3,520 for the children’s charity.

Childline’s Sarah Lambley, who held the initial assembly that proved the inspiration for the fundraising effort, said: “This is an amazing amount; much higher than the average figure raised.”

Last week Sarah came back to the school to tell the pupils how much they had raised. Headteacher Justine Elbourne-Cload commented: “Cunningham Hill parents and children really rose to this challenge and have once again shown their eagerness for helping others.”