News CYL 2021: Workshops and Talks 25.06.2021

From dancing doctors to learning British Sign Language, there have been a number of workshops and talks available for students throughout Challenge Your Limits Week.

We welcomed back Old Dolphins Zara (Class of 1994) who spoke to students on the work that her charity, Snowland Journeys, do for children and their families living in remote villages in the Himalayas; Flora Barker (Class of 2014) and CEO of the International Refugee Trust, Steven Smith, who shared their experiences of supporting local organisations protecting refugees in Jordan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda; and the Dancing Doctor, Dr Nirja Joshi (Class of 2008), who ran dance and wellness sessions for Years 7-10.

We were delighted to have education specialists Thoughtbox deliver workshops on compassionate leadership and a session focused on activating individual agency for change, and students were given a fun introduction to the structure of humour with Laughology.

There were opportunities for self-reflection as Anne Boisier-Fouché helped students to understand the importance of knowing what you believe in and being a positive influence in society, and they were given ‘ten lessons from a change-maker’ as serial entrepreneur for social change Mabel van Oranje talked about the inspirational efforts of her charity Girls Not Brides which campaigns to end child marriage.

In keeping with one of CYL’s main themes of collective responsibility, students lead workshops on sustainability and doing the right thing to make our community sustainable. This week also saw the launch of Godolphin’s first British Sign Language Club, run by members of the Lower Sixth after a fun and interactive deaf awareness session with the charity Remark.

There was also plenty on offer for parents with talks from Old Dolphin Andrea Paltzer (Class of 2002) on her NGO XtraOrdinary Women
and her social enterprise Chureca Chic that help to empower women who have been living in cycles of violence and poverty, and Godolphin’s very own Dr Mary Hill on promoting positive mental health in teenagers.