The Boxing Academy is on tour from 21st - 25th January 2019. We are going skiing in France and will attempt to blog this journey for your entertainment and interest. In this week leading up to departure we will be adding some comments from the pupils about what they are thinking and feeling, but before we start the blog properly there are some thank you shouts we must get out:
1. To our incredibly generous and kind donor who paid for this trip (and wishes to remain anonymous)! You are a superstar; this means the world to us. Tears of joy have already been cried and we haven’t even got on the plane yet.
2. To KitKing who donated beanie hats with BA logos on them! They have been our uniform suppliers for years but this was amazingly kind, and we all look like an Olympic team in our matching hats.
3. To the people who sent money through our Virgin Giving page! It has been used to make sure the kids have everything they need because for disadvantaged children the basics are out of reach.
4. To Mountain Warehouse who donated small rucksacks! Perfect for the slopes!
5. To the people who donated their old ski clothes, we thank you - they will come in useful (you can never have enough layers)!
Why Skiing?
Why not skiing? There is nothing more alien to inner city London kids than the snow-topped Alps! At the Boxing Academy we believe our duty to provide a good education involves so much more than classroom teaching and exams. It must give children a flavour of the world outside their bubble, a world that they may well find uncomfortable at first. They need to experience the challenges and opportunities for skill-building that are essential in order to grow strong; if they can overcome their own mental barriers they can be successful in the adult world. We take them out of their comfort zone, but with all the wraparound support, love and encouragement that our noisy family of a school provides.
This trip is about skiing and fun, but there is a serious purpose also: to avoid educational and social isolation, children need to work through their fears and conquer their doubts. If you help disadvantaged children see the world and get understanding of how other people in other countries live, you build resilience and this gives them aspiration, confidence and choices. As the saying goes; “prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child”. Well, this road leads to Les Deux Alpes!