Information about Balerno High School Role Playing Club:
As an after-school program the Role Playing Club offers a safe and inclusive space for students to bond, develop skills, and express creativity outside the traditional classroom setting. While playing these games they develop as people and widen their interests. Currently the club reaches over 40 children from within the community, but this fluctuates as older students leave and primary seven pupils from the feeder schools (Dean Park, Ratho and Kirknewton) transition into the Balerno High School ecosystem. The two main game systems the club uses are Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder, both with numerous benefits to the individuals playing them.
Information about the project:
A number of Role-Playing Systems have updated recently leaving the club lagging behind the popular front of these systems. The club requested funding to update its resources to the latest editions so that the members continue to benefit in the wider community when they participate in events, and continue to gain the benefits themselves and become more active, involved, and resilient members of the community.
Role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) offer numerous educational benefits beyond entertainment. These games enhance critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, social skills, empathy, language skills, self-confidence, and mental health.
Feedback:
This academic year the club has increased in size from 40 to 56, and at the time of feedback, all were loving it, enjoying stretching their imaginations with friends, and building confidence as community members, as well as improving their reading and mental maths abilities without even realising it. The game masters were gaining valuable experience in managing groups and in preparation. Members were asked two questions and some of their responses are given below.
(1) Do you have any comments about the new equipment funded by the Pentland Community Chest? Responses included: “I’m pleased, as a Dungeonmaster that we have more campaigns to run and physical objects to represent rooms” | “It’s very cool” | “It will make things a lot easier for people that can’t afford the books or are just dipping their toe into the hobby to see if they like it” | “It’s all great and very useful” | “Very cool and exciting” | “It’s so cool with so many tools to immerse players further” | “I can’t wait to use the 2025 books for my next character creation”
(2) Are there any messages you would like to pass on to the Pentland Community Chest after seeing what their grant supplied us with? Responses included: “I’d like to thank them for all the support” | “I’d thank them for the generous grant” | “Thank you for the equipment” | “Thanks for all the new books” | “Thank you very much for all the equipment, we appreciate it lots” | “Thank you for your generous support in helping imaginations fly to far lands of adventure”
Application Tranche: 2025-A