Student VoiceCompassionate Leadership and Change-Makers
Throughout their school life, students at Godolphin and Latymer are encouraged to take a lead on issues that matter to them; there is a real emphasis on developing girls’ ability to lead and make things happen. In particular, there are a number of student-led committees that play an important role in planning and running school activities and that help shape and develop the culture and ethos of our school. These are underpinned by a programme of workshops for our students on Compassionate Leadership and Change-Makers.
Social Impact Committee
Launched in 2020, the Social Impact Committee aims to create partnerships with local, national and international charitable organisations over a number of years, to fund raise, raise awareness within the school community and, most importantly, to educate themselves by learning from our partners.
The 32-member strong student committee is focusing its attention on building a partnership with the Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank and is also working alongside the Snow Land School in Nepal. Other charities supported by the committee include the West London Welcome Community centre which is run for and with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in West London. Recently the committee led the collection for essential items for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and helped organise the SUPPORT UKRAINE fundraising Rowathon.
Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee was also launched in Autumn 2020 and aims to encourage the Godolphin community to take action to improve environmental sustainability in our school, local community and beyond.
In November 2020 the school took part in the national Youth Climate Summit and in November 2021 set up a programme of events to highlight the news and reports from the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference. Led by the Sustainability Committee, these included: providing COP26 news and updates for the Daily Dolphin newsletter; a film festival including David Attenborough’s A Life on Planet Earth, and the film Kiss the Ground; year-group assemblies; and a series of talks taking place in the Geography, Economics, Global Politics, Physics and Engineering, and Climate Change Societies including discussions about Environmental Law and Policy, Climate Change and Financial Crisis, and Sustainable Air Travel. The two-week programme concluded with an interactive session with a representative from the Hammersmith and Fulham Council on how our local area is being impacted by climate change and the measures that the council is putting in place to mitigate the impact.
As well as developing their understanding of these global issues and challenges, the students have been considering the small changes that we can all make in our lives to reduce our carbon footprint including making choices from our lunchtime menu based on CO2 emissions.
The committee has also secured funding from the PTFA for the G&L Allotment which they have cultivated with help from the Premises Team.
Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee had its launch assembly in April 2021 and it aims to get the school community talking about a whole range of topics on the theme of diversity and to ensure that students can openly discuss their backgrounds and identities without the fear of being judged or misunderstood. The student committee is looking at ways to help incorporate more diversity in our curriculum and conversations, to ensure that pupils are learning about other cultures, religions, histories, genders, sexual identities and more.