Hi, my name is Hannah Thornley and I am the headteacher at Wybourn Community Primary School in Sheffield.

For the past four years we have been participating in an Erasmus project to improve the quality of Spanish teaching in school and develop knowledge and understanding of different cultures. Many staff have had the opportunity to spend a week in Santander in Spain where we have attended language courses and other cultural events. We have also forged links with a local school, visiting the pupils and staff and developing the relationships further with the children from our school through special Spanish celebration days and pen-pal communication.

In May 2024 we took a group of 45 children to Santander. The trip was AMAZING and developed their language skills as well as showing children a real piece of the big wide world. The activities were carefully selected to ensure the children had an authentic Spanish experience; visiting the mountains and the coast, working alongside Spanish children and teachers and taking every opportunity to develop language skills and cultural awareness. It was not a holiday – it was a life changing opportunity. We are now planning our next trip for May 2026.

The problem is the cost. Last year we received funding for the trip through The Turing Scheme which allowed children to take part for the bargain price of £100. We applied again for the funding this year but, unfortunately, we have not been successful. £900 per child covers all activities, flights, transfers, travel, accommodation and food for 5 days. However, we cannot charge families more than £400 as we know they simply don't have the money and increasing the cost would be prohibitive for almost all of our children.

Some background information about our school:

• The Wybourn estate is situated in an area of extreme deprivation (bottom 5% nationally)

• 72% of our children are from disadvantaged backgrounds (compared to an average of 20%).

• Our remaining families who are not officially regarded as disadvantaged still struggle financially, many juggling a number of low paid jobs to try to get by

• Financial hardship is a part of everyday life for the majority of children in our school.

In order to alleviate the high levels of poverty, the school supports families in a wide variety of ways which include a free family breakfast club, heavily subsidising trips and holiday clubs which provide activities and lunch for our most vulnerable families. We would love to be able to subsidise this trip to make it affordable for all but spending £600 per pupil from school funds is just not possible at a time when budgets are so stretched. We will make a contribution from the school budget but in order to make this trip a reality we need to raise at least £17,000.

At a time when the world is full of conflict, we want to help our community build links and develop understanding of other cultures. This opportunity is absolutely vital for children in our school. It will open windows, widen horizons and be life changing for the children involved.

Is this something that you would be able to help us with? I do hope so! All contributions will be gratefully received. If you require any further information or would like to sponsor the trip, we would be delighted to hear from you to discuss this exciting opportunity further. The school website is: wybournlearning.com or can find it by searching for the school. Contact details for the school are on the website.

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