The social justice committee operates within the school alongside charities in our local community. The committee is made up of a mixture of pupils from each year group although it is led by two sixth years Sean Lynch and Shanlay Russell although the brains behind the operation is Miss Paterson, with a few other teachers getting involved too like Mrs Stewart, Mr Galloway and Mrs Todd. Last year the committee organised the Christmas fun day, a variety of bake sales and a sponsored flash mob where we managed to raise over £10,000 for cash for kids which was important because we had entered the cash for kid’s school challenge where we ended up with £7,100 to spend within the school.
The pupil parliament played a massive role here because our voices were heard and each committee got together and decided what they would spend the money on and made their pitch from the rest of parliament. The social justice committee contacted different departments in the school to see if there was anything that was urgently required and we decided that art and photography would be our main concern as those subjects use a lot of consumable materials which often need replaced and without them it can be difficult for pupils to get the best of the class. Then, on the same day every committee went to Motherwell civic centre which was an amazing experience for all. Each committee had their chance to vote on some key issues and then read their pitch, we went last and a few members of the committee spoke from each year about the different things we wanted to invest in and why. The parliament then voted for the best pitch and our committee had won which meant that £1,000 went to recycling bins, £1,500 to pupil rewards, £800 in the parliament budget, £1,400 to art and photography, £700 for both ICT and new mics then we put £1,000 back into cash for kids. This was a great experience for all committees and an insight into real life and how decisions are made in parliament and since the budget has been allocated we have heard back from the art and photography department that this money had really made a difference.
Last year we also had a gift giving tree where the committee spent lunchtimes making baubles which different ages and genders on them with a few gift ideas. This meant that people could go to the tree and take a bauble and purchase something from the list to then hand it back into the committee who would then donate to the foodbank. Last year this was an overwhelming success as we ended up with a huge amount of gifts which we took to the foodbank before we finished for the Christmas holidays, we had chosen to help a local foodbank in Kilsyth who could really use some support especially at a time like Christmas because it is heart-breaking to think that some children won’t receive any gifts on Christmas and the emotional impact this will have on their parents so if this idea can give a few kids a smile on Christmas then it’s worth doing. Therefore, we have decided to do this again this year, the Tree went up on Friday and we are still making more baubles to cover the tree. We will be delivering any gifts collected to the foodbank in the middle of December.
Sleep Out
During the current coronavirus pandemic, across the whole country there has been a huge loss in jobs and as restrictions prevent households mixing and “sofa-surfing”, there has been an enormous increase of homelessness. This puts immense pressure on charities that already struggled prior to COVID-19. And so, the Greenfaulds Social Justice Committee are taking part in a sleep out to raise money for such charities. On the 4th of December, members of the committee will be sleeping outside in their garden to spread awareness. Participants are going to film their experience and share some of the difficulties they find during the night. This is just for one night and will only demonstrate a fraction of the hardships faced by those sleeping rough, but it is a great way to recognise our own privilege and to document just some of problems commonly faced by homeless people in our country. The Social Justice Committee are taking donations from a just giving link on their twitter @social_ghs and encourage anyone to donate who can. Good luck to all the pupils and teachers taking part!
Melissa Henderson and Shanlay Russell
