Barry Comprehensive School

Last week Barry Comprehensive welcomed Sam Goonetillake, the Chief Executive of Help Lanka to the school.

Sam is one seven people with Sri Lankan links who, after the Boxing Day tsunami devastated the coastline of Sri Lanka in December 2004, decided to set up a charity to keep the rebuilding of Sri Lanka at the top of the agenda. Sam gave pupils a presentation on the work of the charity. Nearly 5000 children were helped by Helplanka in the last year. Their aim is to ensure the most deserving children are reached and practically helped through volunteer placements, teacher placements and a mobile library. The school was presented with a painting that Sri Lankan pupils had painted, representing peace and unity.

Barry Comprehensive has been involved with the charity for some time through the school twinning scheme, raising funds for a school in Morotwa. We now have a new partner school, Mawadawila School, in Rathgama a town near Galle. The school has not been helped before and we have been able to make a big difference through our fundraising and bag packing. We are already able to provide the school with a desperately needed photocopier plus other funding. Barry Comprehensive School is very proud to be able to send Miss. Allen (Geography Dept) to visit the school on the 4 th of March as part of a British Council funded teacher exchange. The aim of the visit is to develop better links and to encourage understanding of other cultures in both schools. Eventually, Barry Comprehensive hopes to send 6 th Form pupils to our partner school to undertake volunteer work.

Photos:

1. Sam Goonetillake, Chief Executive of Help Lanka, giving a presentation at to pupils
2. Sam Goonetillake, the Chief Executive of Help Lanka, and Miss Allen plan her forthcoming trip
3. Sam Goonetillake, Chief Executive of Help Lanka, presents Headteacher David Swallow with a picture painted by Sri Lankan Schoolchildren