Burley Lodge Centre Girls Group

‘I learnt not all girls get to go to school’ Rashelle, aged 9

Girls Group is a group for 9-12 year old girls that meets weekly at Burley Lodge Centre. The group learnt how a lot of girls miss out on an education.

The girls love dancing so we asked a dance teacher (Stacey Wraith recommended by Northern School of Dance) to come in and help us put a dance together to tell the story of Jaya. Jaya is a clever 12 year old girl from Pakistan whose parents can no longer afford to send to school. (This story was taken from ‘Change the World in 8 Steps- a set of posters and activities for 7-14 year olds investigating the UN Millennium Development Goals’, produced by Oxfam)

We asked Sally Fletcher from Interplay to make us a DVD of the dance project. She made a lovely DVD of the girls learning the dance, playing games, doing role plays from different family members’ perspectives and doing drama sketches about the importance of educating girls.

We had a special ‘DVD premier’ which parents and other workers attended. The girls really enjoyed seeing themselves and preparing food, blowing up balloons and making welcome posters for the event. This boosted the girls’ confidence and the copies they took home are positive reminders of the project.

‘All girls should be educated and have the chance to go to school’ Laura, aged 12

‘I wish we could send the DVD to Jaya so she can see the dance we made up about her life’ Elizabeth aged 11