Pupils curry favour

LENDING a hand . . .Sylvia Patterson with Wajhat Mahmood (left) and Rakeem Iqbal

HATHERSHAW College pupils cooked a curry when they invited local residents to the school.

They shared a meal with 12 people who live in nearby retirement bungalows ­- the first of many joint activities they hope to take part in.

And both pupils and their guests came up with lots of ideas for future projects such as residents wanting help to get on-line to simply asking for company

Year 7 pupil Billy Wilcox asked if residents could attend school events such as shows or presentation evenings if students do not have a parent or grandparent to support them. Pupils are also planning to organise a board games afternoon so the different generations can get together, share stories and find out more about each other.

Housing 21, which manages the bungalows, approached the school to see if it would do some intergenerational work with its residents.

Anjum Raza, the school's pastoral manager, helped 20 pupils to prepare the curry which the residents could also take home.

Assistant principal Lorna Philip said: "We couldn't stop smiling.

"The residents were just to pleased to come into the school and see how the kids operate. They just wanted to mix with the kids and they all said it was lovely.

"They had lots of ideas for projects we could do. Housing 21 is installing wi-fi in the bungalows so they asked for help using the internet. One resident asked for help with her gardening and another just for company."

Parking is a problem outside the Bellfield Avenue school during the school run, and it is hoped that the pupils can also help to educate their parents on the issue.

Residents' spokesman David Patterson said: "Connecting with the children is out of this world. Sometimes we grumble about parking but we know that the students will always be respectful and help us out."