homework club – Govan Community Project

December is always a busy month for our Homework Club, with lots of festive activities taking place.

Kezia, Homework Club Project Lead, explains a bit more about what the kids got up to over the festive season and shares some exciting news they’ve received in the new year.

“In December our high school attendees were busy revising for prelims, while the primary school attendees enjoyed the winding down of homework from school, which means more time for crafts, games and fun. We recently got an old Nintendo Wii console, and while the kids thought this was pretty retro (we got some eye rolls at first) everyone has had great fun with it. Some classics never go out of style!

It was lovely to see some of our Homework Club attendees and their families attend the GCP Christmas
Party in Govan too. It’s always good to meet parents and other GCP community members outside of our project. We ended the year with back-to-back fun, with a Christmas party with games and extra snacks on the last Monday session of the year, before an extra special trip to the Pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre on the Tuesday. The Panto trip is always a highlight! We were especially grateful to receive funding from Safe Deposit Scotland Community Fund, which financially supported us to take the 28 kids and teens, and six staff and volunteers along to the Panto. Thank you for supporting our work.

A special mention to Glasgow Spirit of Christmas, who we partnered again with this year. They do incredible work to make sure every child in Glasgow can wake up on Christmas day with presents from Santa, and experience the magic of Christmas.

Our staff and volunteers then enjoyed well-earned time off. The winter holidays are the only school holidays that aren’t filled with extra activities and trips, giving staff and volunteers time to rest, relax, and enjoy time with loved ones.

Homework Club started back on 17 January 2024 (despite some eager faces showing up two days before…sorry for turning you away, we love the enthusiasm!). We have dived straight into busy homework schedules, but will always find time for a couple of games of Uno and some drawing.

We are also very excited to share that we started 2024 with some special news.

The Homework Club has been awarded funding by the Orp Foundation, which has increased staff capacity across the team, and will allow us to develop the project. What a way to start the year!”

This is the second year we have run Homework Club activities throughout the summer- and it was a very busy one! We welcomed some new children, along with several kids who moved up to S1, that joined us in the older high school group. With a focus on activities requested by our wonderful attendees, we delved into a little bit of everything. Homemade pizzas made from scratch, and some interesting sandwiches carefully crafted. A task-based game became a firm favourite, as kids battled it out over who could make the best plate of food from things outside, or best set of silly goggles.

In the little snippets of Scottish summer heat, the kids made ice lollies and played outside, adorning the concrete at the community flat with chalk drawings and going head-to-head in serious games of limbo. When the clouds rolled in, we got stuck into arts and crafts, making clay animals and monsters, creating personalised mugs, and doing lots of painting. We ended the summer with a back to school party with bubbles, games, crafts and balloons, celebrating the end of a great summer and a return to school time.

Eid al-Adha

From mid to late June, many of the children and young people who attend Homework Club celebrated Eid al-Adha. In the lead up to this, kids made the most of the arts and crafts materials in the flat, making cards and Eid-themed decorations to take home for family celebrations. It is great fun to be able to support children in this way, learning more about the different cultures and traditions the children celebrate, while engaging in creative activities.

Circus Trip

We were also delighted to be invited to Aerial Edge in Ibrox for a Intro to Circus Skills workshop for the older group. After a thorough warm up, the young people who attended got to try a range of activities. Throughout the day, the young people tried spinning plates, acrobatic arts and juggling. Once warmed up we moved onto the trampoline, with some impressive flips and jumps, and other aerial activities. The silks, ropes and aerial hoop were a big hit, with the young people quickly showing up the Homework Club staff with their skills.

A huge thank you to Aerial Edge for their time. We look forward to coming back with our younger group, and already have some of the older group looking at signing up for sessions themselves.

Glasgow Science Center

While the older group went on a trip to Aerial Edge, our younger homework club group attended the Glasgow Science Center. With more activities than could possibly be done in one day, the kids made the most of the trip, running between rooms of visual illusions and exploring the science behind how our bodies work. We ended the trip in the Planetarium, learning all about our night sky, zooming in close to planets and stars, and looking back on our own planet earth. Thank you to all the staff at the Science Center for answering our questions and pointing us in the direction of the best things to do and see.