Happy New Year - Looking Ahead to 2021
The New Year is a time for hope, for planning, for setting goals and for moving forward and making life better. Dates are a great way to set reminders for ourselves to think about something important. To help you do this we have created a calendar that celebrates Education and Human Rights milestones.
Have a look at our Education Calendar, and see how you can use it in your work, or classrooms.
Education is a Human Right. One thing that 2020 illustrated to everyone is how connected we all are to each other. We do not exist in bubbles, our groups are made up of people in other groups, who are connected to more groups and so on. We have seen the virus spreading rapidly, not just through a country but through the whole world. We are all connected across the world.
This world connection applies to education too. If we are able to get access to quality education right in one country, the problems caused by lack of education in other countries are still going to affect everyone globally. When we have problems in the UK people may be concerned about how we can fix our own problems, but without fixing problems globally new challenges will be created, which affect us all equally.
This year we are asking you to join us to make profound changes in the world.
To make these changes we know that we need to set goals and take action. By sharing our goals, we are not only more likely to reach them but also, we are inviting everyone to join in and help us achieve them.
So here goes - our goals for 2021!
The Positive Periods programme will continue in Sierra Leone and The Gambia and will be replicated in Cuba, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Cambodia. To do this we need to raise £25,000.
We will pilot digital learning in rural areas in The Gambia as part of our Global Digital Divide Research Project. To do this we need to raise £8,000 for equipment and training.
A new Learning Resource Centre will open in The Gambia. We aim to impact 17,600 teachers and their students.
We will support safe learning through providing learning resource packs in Cambodia. We aim to impact 250 children and their families.
We will support literacy learning in Jamaica and Haiti. We aim to impact 650 children and their families.
We will continue to adapt and support the provision of quality education where it is needed most.
Everyone can do something to support Education for all Children Everywhere.
What can you do?
You can sign up for one of our Life Long Learning Webinars. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-steve-sinnott-foundation-31041261381
• You can help us with Resources and research.
• You can write articles for Engage or our blog so we can share all teaching and learning practices globally.
• You can follow us on social media, like and comment to get our engagement levels up.
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
• You can share our work with any new partners who might be interested, we believe working together is winning together.
• It costs £25 for a good quality solar radio which provides lessons for at least 10 children. So, £500 would buy 20 radios and support over 200 children to access learning.
• The materials and training for a making 5 reusable period pads which last a girl up to 3 years is £3 so if you donate £10 a month that is supporting 40 girls in a year. Once a girl has learned this skill, she can manage her periods independently and with dignity and pride.
If you would like to fundraise for us you can find some ideas here:
Wishing you all a positive and peaceful 2021 from everyone at The Steve Sinnott Foundation
The Steve Sinnott Foundation • December 29, 2020

Mike Fleetham of Thinking Classroom has written a book " Headlines: Inspiration, humour and advice for school leaders ". A collection of original ideas, advice from professionals, quotes, and tips to support and inspire all leaders. Perfect for new and established leaders working in education, especially headteachers. "Being a headteacher is like looking both ways before you cross the road, and then getting hit by an aeroplane." To Enter the Competition To win a copy of Headlines please share your inspiring education or life lesson in no more than 600 words. The winning article will also be published in our next edition of Engage. Send your words of inspiration to admin@stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk ๐
Deadline: 5th September 2025โ Stuck on Ideas? Here are some questions and prompts to get you started! What’s the one lesson school didn’t teach you, but life did? Think of a moment that changed your path, what happened? What piece of advice has helped you grow the most? When did a challenge turn into an opportunity for you? What story from your life would inspire someone on the other side of the world? What’s the life lesson that unlocked your next chapter? โ Your words could uplift, empower and be seen by many. Let your story inspire the world! ๐๐กโ Good luck and we cant wait to read all the entries!

This week our CEO Ann and Jude (SSF Ambassador) visited schools in Coventry and heard about the wonderful work that students are doing to foster peace and community connection, as part of Coventry Arts Week. We visited Lyng Hall school in the morning and met with Ms Hagan and four of the schools UNESCO ASPnet ambassadors. They told us all about their recent project. The students took their art and poetry to the 80th Anniversary symposium in Ypres and Dunkirk. They shared with us some of the poetry they had written together with the students on the field trip and some of their own poems too. They also shared their future plans for working with their local primary school on peace and community. We also had the privilege of joining Ms Hagans class where they were looking at Caliban’s tale. Here is one of the students work

For my birthday this year I had the honour to walk 60 miles (yes it was a big 0 birthday) over 3 days to support the essential work of the Steve Sinnott Foundation of which I am CEO. Education in its many forms is essential for all of us to thrive and make the most of life's opportunities. The Foundation works to ensure that as many children and adults as possible across the globe can access the human right of education. The plan was to walk with friends and supporters who I hoped would keep me smiling along the way and it felt like a good way to make use of the Foundation’s “Get Moving” campaign. Here's how my Get Moving Fundraiser went on the first day. The 13th June I started my walk in London by walking from Barnet to west Hampstead and visiting my sister at her shop at Tree of Life where I got served a nice iced coffee to keep me going.