Send My Friend to School 2009

Nelson Mandela and other high profile supporters will join pupils worldwide for The Big Read, part of a campaign to ensure all children receive an education.

This year, the Send My Friend campaign is once again asking UK school pupils to join forces with young campaigners around the world to keep up the pressure on global leaders to end the education crisis.

Nelson Mandela, Alice Walker, Michael Morpurgo and Dakota Blue are among some of the high profile supporters of this year's campaign. They have all contributed a story, poem, speech or reflection for The Big Read, organised by the Global Campaign for Education.

The GCE is a worldwide coalition of teacher unions and development agencies, including Plan, united in their determination to make the right to education a reality.

The Big Read on Wednesday 22 April 2009 is a chance for pupils and their teachers to be part of a huge event happening in 100 countries. The theme is the importance of literacy and how the ability to read and write opens doors for all children.

After reading inspiring words from influential people, pupils will be asked to write their own stories, speeches and poems and then read them out at a school-wide 'read & write-athon' to an audience of MPs, teachers, parents and journalists.

Pupils can then use the power of their words by sending their work to the Prime Minister to remind him and other world leaders to keep their promise on education.

Free resources for teachers include: an 8-minute DVD, a collectable series of postcards featuring letters from 16 world alphabets, campaign posters, stickers and a teachers' guide.

Also available at www.sendmyfriend.org is a range of interactive resources to support classroom learning. Teachers can find out which schools are taking part via an interactive map and give students the chance to decorate the door of 10 Downing Street with a design of their choice, which can be stored in the online gallery.

In-depth information includes: lesson plans and activity ideas, films including a 'Spotlight on Tanzania` section, and case studies of children who miss out on education.

www.sendmyfriend.org

Find Out More

All over the world, poverty is denying millions of children an education. Right now more than 100 million children cannot go to school and a further 150 million children will not finish primary school.
Click here to find out more about Plan's education work.