Branksome Hall is a member of the Triangle of Hope, founded by restaurateur and philanthropist, Peter Oliver, Chair of the Stephen Leacock Foundation for Children. The Triangle of Hope project partners a Toronto independent school with a Toronto inner-city school and a school in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Branksome’s local partner in the Triangle of Hope is Rose Avenue Public School, and our partner school in South Africa is the Get Ahead Project School in Queenstown. Together, we work to increase intercultural understanding and provide opportunities for student learning, service and friendship. There are currently three Triangles of Hope operating in Toronto.

The project began at Branksome in 2004, and each year since then, a group of senior Branksome students and faculty has traveled to South Africa. The Branksome students help at the Queenstown Get Ahead Project School (QGAP), where they spend time running a number of projects with the students and staff. Branksome students lead classes and interact with student groups while the South African and Canadian teachers share curriculum initiatives.

As part of our partnership with Rose Avenue Public School, groups of Branksome Hall students go weekly to Rose Avenue to run the after-school Homework Club, the JUMP Math Tutoring program, and the Rose Avenue Band. Each summer, 35 Grade 4 and 5 students from Rose Avenue come to a month-long Literacy Camp at Branksome Hall, funded by the Leacock Foundation. Branksome students volunteer at Literacy Camp and faculty from Branksome assist in running the camp.