The Chronicle, Spring 2019

17 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Handy Voices Sixth Formers Bunny Lytle and Helena Beccle sang and signed with the Handy Voices sign language choir in Oxford for about a year. They told us: ‘We used to go along to Handy Voices in Oxford on Monday afternoons. It was really refreshing to get out of School and to be in a different environment. Most of the young people we sang with were deaf, and some faced additional challenges such as autism or learning difficulties. It was so good for us to know enough sign language to be able to make friends with our fellow choir members and to understand more about what it’s like living with the difficulties they face. It was also good to realise that despite the many differences in our lives, we all really enjoyed coming together to sing and sign with the Choir. Although our partnership with the Choir has come to an end for the time being, we both want to keep working on our signing skills. Right now we’re planning for Deaf Awareness Week in May – we want to organise something really fun like a Flash Mob performance in the centre of Oxford.’ IntoUniversity In 2002, three friends were helping at a homework club in North Kensington, a London borough of social and economic extremes. The scale of underachievement they encountered prompted them to launch IntoUniversity, a charity which now operates across the UK, running 30 local learning centres where young people from

disadvantaged backgrounds are encouraged to aim high. The Oxford centre in Blackbird Leys opened in 2014, and Teddies Sixth Formers have been volunteering at the centre on a weekly basis, helping with reading or project work. Pictured are Ben Courtney-Guy, Daniela Rafart Cardona and Max Morris about to head off to the Oxford centre. Phoebe Taylor and Benedict Machin also attend regularly.