An award winning Fairtrade church primary school was invited to share its success story at a Fairtrade schools conference in Leeds.
Horbury Bridge CE J and I Academy won the Margaret Demidecke Fairtrade Award 2014 and a cheque towards their work after a busy year promoting the Fair Trade message which saw pupils in every age group get to grips with workshops, games and activities as they learned about the power of FairTrade for the banana farmer and the changes needed to make every banana a fair-trade one. At present, one in three bananas sold in British shops is Fairtrade.
Ten pupils even swapped the classroom for the corridors of power when they were invited to the Houses of Parliament last year to take part in a Fairtrade workshop.
They also made a video and magazine which they distributed as far as they could using social media and handing it out on the streets!
Head teacher, Janette Skinner, said: “We have worked really hard getting to grips with Fair Trade issues. It’s vital that our children, as the citizens of the future, understand global issues – and we had great fun doing it. We have done everything from hurling an inflatable banana to learning about the political and financial implications of the global economy. All our pupils, from Nursery to Year 6 took part.
"So, when we saw the competition for the Award, we just submitted a summary and evidence of our work and won! They said we had managed to spread the message so widely," she added.
During Fairtrade fortnight children gave a presentation of their work and the Award to other schools at the Leeds DEC Fairtrade Schools Conference. Their powerpoint slides and notes will now be shared at a good practice conference in Latvia!
http://horburybridgeacademy.co.uk/fairtrade-2/