Two Year 5 students at Horizon English School,part of the Cognita family of schools, have created and donated 100 bespoke Maths, Reading and Writing workbooks for children in Malawi, transforming a classroom challenge into a project with international impact.
Working largely independently and with minimal adult support, Year 5 students, Marc SerrasMaksoudianand Myra Jain led the initiative as part of Cognita’s global Student Challenge, ‘Making a Difference’. Determined to support children served by the Sparkle Foundation in Malawi, the pair researched the educational needs of local students before designing resources tailored to support literacy and numeracy development.
The initiative soon grew into a school-wide campaign, bringing together students, staff and families across Horizon English School. Alongside the workbooks, the school community donated stationery, notebooks and classroom supplies to help ensure children had both the learning materials and the tools needed to use them effectively.
Over the course of a school term, Marc and Myra created the workbooks entirely from scratch, developing engaging activities in reading, writing and mathematics. They also taught themselves new digital design and formatting skills, coordinated printing and production, and managed the logistics required to deliver the resources.
To encourage wider participation, the students organised donation drives, designed promotional posters and delivered assembly presentations that inspired their peers to get involved.
The impact of the project became even more meaningful when students and teachers in Malawi sent a personal thank-you video. For Marc and Myra, the message provided a powerful reminder that their efforts had reached children thousands of miles away and were making a tangible difference.
Martin Cole, Principal of Horizon English School, said:“Marc and Myra have demonstrated remarkable leadership,compassion and determination throughout this project. They identified a genuine need, created a practical solution and inspired an entire community to contribute. What they have achieved goes far beyond their age and demonstrates the power young people have to create meaningful change when given the opportunity to lead.”
Marc Serras Maksoudian, Year 5 student at Horizon English Schoolsaid:“We wanted to help children have access to learning resources that could make a real difference to their education. We realised that something small from us could have a big impact somewhere else.”
The project also provided valuable learning experiences, requiring the students to overcome challenges and develop new skills along the way.
Myra Jain, Year 5 student at Horizon English Schoolshared:“One of the biggest challenges was organising the campaign and making sure the workbooks were engaging and useful for the children receiving them. It took a lot of teamwork and perseverance. Watching the thank-you video from the school in Malawi was probably our favourite moment because seeing the children smiling and thanking us made us feel incredibly proud and emotional.”
Beyond the resources delivered to Malawi, the project has fostered empathy, collaboration and social responsibility throughout the Horizon community, highlighting the impact young people can achieve when empowered to turn ideas into action.
For more information about Horizon English School Jumeirah, families can visit https://horizonschooldubai.com/.
