Cherry Orchard Primary School

In December 2018, the Cherry Orchard School Student Council met with Headteacher Maria Hill and Deputy Mayor of London Joanne McCartney, keen to talk over their wishes for the coming year. They unanimously agreed that they wanted somewhere quiet and calm to read a book if they didn’t want to play outside during break time and after seeing how passionate the pupils were about this project, Maria managed to allocate some school funding to allow a chalet to be built in their playground. Unfortunately, with funding across all schools extremely tight, there was no remaining budget to furnish it, or stock it with any books.

The ABC saw first-hand how determined the pupils were to make their Reading Chalet dreams become a reality, and swiftly confirmed that they would be delighted to provide the books and soft furnishings in order to create the calm and cosy space the pupils wished for.

On Wednesday 24th April, the School Council saw their dream become a reality. Officially opened by the Mayor of Greenwich, Christine May, the pupils launched their very own Reading Chalet full of 650 donated books, bright bean bags and cosy blankets.