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How to WOW at school

Thousands of school children had a fabulous time last year wearing something WOW and we need your help again this year. There are over 14 million children living as orphans due to poverty, war, HIV/AIDS and other causes, and as many as 100 million more who are living homeless on the streets.

World Orphan Week or WOW provides a great opportunity for schools to have all the fun of dressing up and wearing something fabulous, while at the same time supporting the world’s largest orphan charity.

Just pick a day during World Orphan Week to get dressed up and 'wear something WOW' . This isn't just another dress-down day - we want you to dress up and make it shout WOW! By making a £1 donation on the day, your pupils are helping to support the children we care for.

WOW provides children in the UK with an opportunity to learn about other countries, cultures, religions and ways of life. Teachers can combine WOW with one of our lesson plans which enables a real connection with issues on the school curriculum such as the sub-Saharan AIDS pandemic, child soldiers and child labour. We can provide schools with information and resources, from country and Village specific profiles, photos and lesson plans to help make participation in WOW both fun and educational. Check out our lesson plan page.

How To WOW:

If you want to take part in World Orphan Week 2009, the first thing you need to do is to register here. We will then send you a fundraising pack with posters and more information about SOS Children and World Orphan Week, together with lots of simple ideas for activities you can put on for your WOW day.

It may be a good idea to choose a WOW coordinator at your school, responsible for promoting World Orphan Week and arranging activities on the day. This could be a teacher, the student council or perhaps someone on the charity committee.

WOW Ideas

The easiest way to do World Orphan Week is to just encourage the children to dress up for the day and donate £1 each. However, you can make getting involved with 'World Orphan Week' as simple or creative as you like - here are some other ideas about how you and your school can join in:

  • Put ribbons in your hair (including the boys!), bells on your bags or stick tinsel to your glasses!
  • Choose a theme for the school and dress up in style - princes and princesses, famous faces, dress up as your favourite (or least favourite!) teacher...
  • Why not have a competition to see which tutor group or house looks the best in their 'wear something WOW' outfits - present an award for the most fabulously dressed group!
  • Put on a WOW bake sale: sell bright home made cupcakes or biscuits and donate the profits.
  • Make sure the teachers take part too - get them to do a fashion show in their WOW outfits during assembly!
  • WOW your sports lessons - tie balloons to your hockey sticks or wear bright pink football socks!

Our website will also shortly have a download section including posters, a draft letter to parents, and a draft press release to send to your local media to let them know about your 'wear something WOW' activities. We can also offer support to teachers through lesson plans and video clips about our work.

Paying in your donations is easy, you can do it online, by post, by telephone or at your bank. See our donation page for more information.

If you have any questions or would like a chat, please contact Helen on 01223 365589 or email helen@soschildren.org.

Have a wonderful WOW!

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