Harvington CE First School, just outside of Evesham, has achieved a silver award from Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours Scheme. The scheme celebrates schools that are helping pupils to learn about global poverty and the Christian responsibility to tackle it, motivating children to become good citizens and play their role in creating a fairer world.
Michaela Magee led on completing the scheme alongside the headteacher, Helen Fishbourne. Michaela said: “Our Christian values are important in our school. We try to encourage our children to have compassion and awareness for other situations and work hard to give them a voice so they know they can make changes which will make a difference.”
The school has a longstanding link with Bishop Chitemo School in Tanzania and children in both communities have written letters to find out how life is lived in another part of the world. The school also runs a Pupil Parliament with children appointed as ministers for different areas, for example the environment.
Michaela continued: “We don’t have a huge amount of diversity within our local area, so its important to have an awareness of different cultures and other people. We talk regularly about global issues, look at a variety of aspirational and inspirational people and have a weekly ‘Big Question’ in our learning zone for children to explore together. Topics have included flooding, strikes and whether competition is a good thing!”
Lily in year 3 suggested that the school could support children in Ukraine through putting together bags with food, toys and drinks that Ukrainian children could use when they reach a safe place. Some of the children also bought books at the school’s book fair to donate to Ukrainian children and a prayer tree was set up for children to add their prayers for people in Ukraine.
Charlotte in year 4 said: “We have two eco warriors in each class who take part in litter picks and other activities to help our environment. We have also written letters giving advice on how to recycle and the importance of not littering.”
Some of the pupils wrote to the caterers used by the school to ask if it was possible to source more sustainable ingredients and use less packaging. This resulted in a change in the caterer’s policy which has benefitted a number of schools in the area.
“We have sent a whole school text message to encourage parents to walk to school,” said Sam in year 3. “And we have also written letters about global warming and some of the things we can to do stop it,” said Harrison in year 4. “It is important that we take action so that we can have a good life when we’re older.”
The school are now hoping to work towards achieving their gold award. Michaela said: “We try hard to give the children responsibilities and they are great at thinking of things we can do. The Global Neighbours Award links to the curriculum in so many different ways and has a wider impact on children’s learning. It has also expanded their views – they feel more confident and empowered to make changes. It’s a real reminder that no matter how small you are, you can make a difference and speaking up can have an impact.”
