10th March 2020 — Two more schools join ground-breaking social enterprise project

Three years after the launch of Safi Coffee, Hull Collegiate School’s (HCS) pupil-led social enterprise project has brokered partnerships with two more schools in the UK. Through the project, HCS pupils import coffee beans from Uganda and sell them to companies in and around Hull. Their profits are used to fund children’s education in the Kanungu region where the beans are grown.

The project will now be launched in Highgate School in London and Felsted School in Essex. Both schools have strong links with Uganda and regularly organise pupil trips through Teach Uganda which supports schools in the Kanungu region. By launching the project in two schools in different parts of the country, Safi Coffee has the potential to grow significantly by reaching new, untapped markets in the south.

Hull Collegiate School pupils are working closely with Highgate and Felsted Schools helping pupils get the project off the ground. HCS pupils recently visited Felsted and worked with pupils as they came up with new ideas and ways to make the product as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. Felsted pupils are currently transforming their coffee shop into the Safi Coffee Shop which will open later this year.

HCS pupils also travelled to north London to present to Highgate pupils. The project has very quickly started turning a profit with over £1,000 worth of Safi Coffee sold to their parent community. Four Sixth Formers have also ventured into the City of London and sold Safi Coffee at law firm, Steptoe and Johnson.

Pupils from each school will work closely together meeting each term and holding regular video calls. Pupils across the three schools have set themselves the ambitious target to fill a 20-tonne container with coffee beans in five years’ time generating around 150K profit thereby creating life-changing opportunities for families in the Kanungu region.

Chris Wainman, Senior Deputy Head of Hull Collegiate School, said:

“We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Highgate and Felsted Schools. What began as a small, pupil-led initiative selling coffee beans to coffee shops in Hull is quickly transforming into a national enterprise. Both Highgate and Felsted already have very strong links with schools in Uganda and we know they put their all into making Safi Coffee a success.

“We have learnt a lot in the three years we have been running Safi Coffee and we look forward to sharing our experiences with the schools as they launch the project.

“By joining forces with two more schools, we can grow the project significantly and provide even more children in Uganda with the education and opportunities they deserve.”

Tom Brown, Director of Safi Coffee CIC, has a clear vision of how to take Safi to the next level. He said:

“Raising awareness of the project is our number one aim; ultimately, the more people that are drinking Safi Coffee, the more children we can put through school in Uganda. Fuelling offices and workspaces with Safi Coffee has allowed us to increase the number of children we sponsor up to 50; this a real testament to the success of the initiative, demonstrating how far the project has come in such a short space of time.”

Philippa Studd, Assistant Principal of Highgate Junior School, said:

‘It is really great to see Safi Coffee and the partnership between Highgate, Felsted and Hull Collegiate Schools growing from strength to strength before our very eyes! Not only has the project been an exciting opportunity for our pupils to develop their entrepreneurial skills whilst having the chance to cultivate relationships with our partner schools in the UK, it has been all the more enriching for the pupils and staff to know that the work they are doing in increasing awareness of the Safi brand and raising money from sales is going to help our partnership schools back in Uganda.

“A number of the pupils involved in the Safi Coffee group have visited the schools in Uganda and have seen for themselves the difference their help and contributions can make in providing educational opportunities for the Ugandan people. We continue to be excited about the future of this project and the opportunities it will bring.’

Nigel Little, Chaplain, Felsted School & Trustee of Teach Uganda, said:

“As a Trustee of Teach Uganda, I am delighted that Felsted School has embraced the opportunity to promote Safi Coffee amongst its community. The coffee beans are grown in Uganda, shipped directly to the UK for roasting and packaging and then distributed direct to Felsted. As a result, we are able to ensure that the funds raised from our sales are sent directly back to help the children of Uganda. It is wonderful for our students to be in an entrepreneurial partnership with other young people in Hull, Highgate and Uganda.”

24th February 2020 — A 16 year old from Hull Collegiate School beat more than 3,500 students in a coding competition to win a trip to Google's headquarters in California.

Josh, a Year 11 pupil at Hull Collegiate School, East Yorkshire, was announced as one of the winners in Google’s annual Code-In competition. A total of 3,566 students from 76 countries took part in the competition, with 20,840 tasks being completed with 29 open source organisations.

Josh chose to participate with CircuitVerse, a product developed by students at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore.

Josh's entry has won him and a parent a trip to Google’s headquarters at Mountain View, California, in June 2020. Josh said, “The project I worked on involved 22 tasks in research and programming and I am excited to get the opportunity to visit Google HQ.”

Mr Carmichael, Head of Computing, said, "Once again, Josh has proven himself to be a world beater in the field of Computer Science."

To find out more about the Code-In competition, visit: codein.withgoogle.com

29th March 2019 — A Hull Collegiate School student has beaten off tough competition to be selected for Team GB at the under-16s Showjumping Nations Cup next month. Holly from Worlaby, near Brigg is one of four showjumpers from across the UK to have been selected by British Showjumping.

The competition, which pits European showjumping teams of five riders against each other, will take place in Opglabbeek in Belgium next month.

The selection process is notoriously competitive with numerous showjumpers competing for a LeMieux Team GB place in the Nations Cup but Holly managed to secure her position after several top ten finishes in multiple competitions over the last year. This includes reaching the finals of the World Cup Pony Show in Belgium last December.

Holly will compete on her stallion Rexter D’or – a Connemara cross Selle Français grey pony – which she has been riding for the last year. Commenting on her selection, Holly said:“I’m ecstatic that my pony and I have been selected. It’s always a real honour to compete for your country; I’m really looking forward to it and hope to do myself proud.”

As well as competing all year round, Holly is currently studying for her GCSEs at Hull Collegiate School where she plans to stay on to study for her A Levels. Alex Wilson, Headmistress of Hull Collegiate School, said:“We are all incredibly proud of Holly and will be thinking of her when she competes next month. She has shown real commitment and determination to get this far and thoroughly deserves the success she has achieved.”

14th March 2019 — Seventeen Year 10 Students at Hull Collegiate School are celebrating after receiving an impressive set of GCSE results in Mathematics, having taken the exam 18 months early. All of the students achieved a grade 9 – 7 (equivalent to the former grades A*-A) with 60% awarded the highest grade 9 and 94% graded 8 or above.

The students will now go on to take a further course in Additional Mathematics, sitting the exam next year. The course will provide the students with an enriched programme of study and an introduction to the Mathematics studied post 16.

Year 10 student, Theo, said: “I am delighted with my results and I’m looking forward to studying Additional Maths as it will really help to bridge the gap when I study A Level Maths in the Sixth Form.”

Headmistress, Alex Wilson, said: “I am delighted that our students secured such excellent results; they are a testament to their hard work, determination and a passion for Maths. Many congratulations to them and the Maths department.”