In Balmalloch Primary School and Nursery we work together to learn about the current crisis of Climate Change and global issues. Through learning about Fairtrade our young people are given the opportunity to discover how their choices can make a difference to the lives of people and farmers around the world and the planet we share.

Our Fairtrade Pupil Voice group is made up of pupils from across Primary 2 – Primary 7.

Teaching and learning about Fairtrade is used as a way of developing our pupil’s skills and confidence across a variety of curricular areas such as, IDL – Geography links, Science, PSHE, and Health and Wellbeing.

Being a Fairtrade School means that our children throughout the school can see that they have the power to make a difference in the world, beginning at a local level and eventually impacting on a wider global scale.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

This is implemented throughout the year in our classrooms and with our Eco Committee to promote the SDGs, in particular the goals such as, No Poverty and Climate Action. During our school Poverty Week some of the pupils applied their knowledge and understanding about the positives and facts of Fairtrade and shared these through leaflets and fact files as well as various design projects.

FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT

Our participation during Fairtrade Fortnight each year means that our pupils get to learn more about where our food comes from and celebrate the work of the people working hard to grow crops around the world.

In Balmalloch Primary School and Nursery Class we work to promote and encourage the purchase of Fairtrade logo items. Some ways we have achieved this is through a variety of cooking and recipe making activities where our children use their creativity both at home and in school to devise recipes for Fairtrade milkshakes, cakes, and lunchbox swaps. This way they are taking an active approach to making a difference.

Our school works closely with the local community. Kilsyth Co-operative Store is one example of this. During Fairtrade Fortnight and throughout the school year, our pupils have the chance to visit the store and locate Fairtrade logo products, taking part in a survey around the shop. The store manager is very helpful and provides useful information to our children all about the logos and products they have.

With the Co-operative store in Kilsyth, we have also encouraged our pupils, families, and local community to buy more Fairtrade items through the displays of our pupils work on the store window. The most recent example of this is the competition to create a recipe for their milkshake using Fairtrade ingredients and offering prizes for each class winner decided by the store managers. This was a great success.