Who are the Global Neighbours?

We are the Global Neighbours from Years 3-6!

We will continue to support our Fairtrade School status as well as becoming advocates for many global issues which we feel our school community can impact in some way.

We look forward to sharing our research and awareness by identifying opportunities and campaigns to make a real difference. We embrace the school ethos of supporting our neighbours both near and far.

Pancake Day is also known as Shrove Tuesday.

What is Pancake Day?

It happens on a different day every year to mark the start of the Christian festival of Lent. 

Shrove Tuesday always falls the day before the 40 days of Lent begin.

Lent begins from Ash Wednesday. 

Lent is traditionally a time of fasting and sacrifice, and often Christian children give things up - such as chocolate, or crisps.

At the end of Lent it is Easter - the most important celebration in the Christian calendar.

The tradition of making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday comes from families using up all ingredients in their cupboards so that they can start Lent the next day. 

The ingredients - eggs, flour and milk - used to be very common things for people to give up for Lent, so it made sense to use them all up. 

These days it's probably the toppings that we're likely to give up - such as chocolate or sweets.

Why not choose some Fairtrade toppings for your pancakes? Chocolate, sugar, bananas, honey or syrup! 
 

Pancake Day 2025 is Tuesday 4th March. 

The children made Valentine’s Day cards with a little Fairtrade chocolate gift inside! We thought about the people in our lives that we love. Happy Valentine’s Day! 

The Global Neighbours found out about the ingredients needed to bake delicious gingerbread, a popular Christmas treat! We learned about where the ingredients come from and the people who help to produce them! The Fairtrade Foundation supports farmers around the world ensuring that they get a fair deal for all of their hard work! 
 

The children also made Fairtrade themed Christmas cards and designed Christmas jumpers and socks! 
 

Happy Christmas! 
 

The Global Neighbours are making poppy wreathes to add to our display board. We are getting ready to mark Remembrance Day in school next Monday, 11th November.

This Harvest, the Fairtrade group thought about where many of the foods we love come from and the people who produce them! 
 

The group collected food donations for the Harvest Festival to be shared at our local Food Bank. We made springy squirrels! The group also decided to make cakes using Fairtrade ingredients to serve at the Harvest Afternoon Tea Party in school on 18th October. 

This September we are marking Fairtrade Fortnight and Fairtrade’s 30th birthday! We are so proud to be a Fairtrade School and we will be celebrating with activities, a decorated birthday card competition and a chocolate bar sale! 
 

Stourbridge has been a Fairtrade town since 2010 so lookout for local events near you this fortnight!

Thank you for your support! 🍫😋🌏💚🎂

It’s Great Big Green Week! 💚🌏🌳🍫

For 2024, we'll be celebrating swaps – from clothes or book swaps, to skill swaps in allotments or upcycling workshops, to knowledge swaps on discussion panels or wildlife reserves.

Swap regular products for Fairtrade to support farmers and the planet. From chocolate to coffee, every choice counts. 
 

FIND A GREAT BIG GREEN WEEK EVENT NEAR YOU!

Be part of the UK’s biggest celebration of action to tackle climate change and protect nature, taking place in communities nationwide from 8th to 16th June 2024.

Check out these fantastic local Great Big Green Week events! Litter picks, making bookmarks,creating a nature garden and a swap shop! 💚🌳🌏

Enjoy a Fairtrade chocolate bar with your new book at the Book Fair! There is a great selection of books! We chose four great new books for the Global Neighbours to enjoy and share! Why not buy some new stationery too! Thank you for supporting the Book Fair and Fairtrade! 

Happy Fairtrade Easter from the Global Neighbours Group! 🌏🍫🐣🥚💐🐰💚

💚🌏 Recycling Art Competition! 🌏💚

To mark Global Recycling Day on 18th March, the Global Neighbours held a recycling themed art competition! 

Children decorated the recycling symbol with their own different pictures linked to recycling. They included plastics, glass, clothing and garden waste! Winners received prizes and their designs will be displayed around school! These symbols will help to encourage others to learn about recycling too! 

The Big Garden Birdwatch is the UK’s largest garden wildlife survey. It’s been running since 1979, and every year, around 700,000 people take part. It takes place over the last weekend in January each year. In 2024, The Big Garden Birdwatch will be on the 26th to 28th January.

The Global Neighbours spent a sunny but cold lunch hour on Friday spotting the visiting birds that came to land in the school grounds and recorded numbers for the RSPB National Survey. Some of the children even brought bird guide books and binoculars! Well done everyone! 

National Tree Week got us thinking about the trees all over the world that grow the foods we love like bananas and cocoa! The Fairtrade Foundation supports farmers and their families who work so hard to ensure that these trees and crops thrive! A fair deal for all!

The Global Neighbours decorated Christmas tree decorations to sell with Fairtrade chocolate bars!

Miss Tait baked gingerbread at home using Fairtrade ingredients!
 

Merry Christmas and Thank You for all of your support!

The Global Neighbours have been marking National Tree week!

National Tree Week is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration. Each year, the country’s conservation sector, volunteer groups and tree-lovers come together to plant thousands of trees to mark the start of the tree planting season.

We appreciate the beautiful variety of trees in and around our school environment. 🌳💚🌏

Harvest is a time when we are reminded to be thankful for all of the people around the world who help to produce the foods we love.

The Global Neighbours group created a display in the library to support the Fairtrade Foundation’s mission to ensure that farmers get a fair deal for their hard work. The children decided to find a donation with the Fairtrade mark to take to the Harvest Worship assembly. 

Together with farmers and businesses, Fairtrade is working for a fairer future in chocolate.

Most cocoa farmers do not earn enough to cover their basic needs. This is in part due to unreliable market prices and an unfair supply chain.

In recent years, the price of cocoa beans has slumped. Disease and age are damaging cocoa trees, while climate change is making crops harder to grow.

When you choose Fairtrade chocolate, you know that farmers in places like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are getting a fairer price for their cocoa.

Farmers and workers are guaranteed the Fairtrade Minimum Price for their crop. It means they are more likely to be able to cover household costs like education, food and healthcare.

They also receive an additional Fairtrade Premium, which they can choose to invest in their communities and to fight the effects of climate change.

Are you getting into the swing of spring?

What better way of doing this than with flowers!

The presence of vibrant and fragant flowers in school can make us happier and improve our mood. Scientific research suggests that having flowers around can also help reduce stress and anxiety.

The global cut flower trade is estimated to be worth more than £88 million a year!  But the industry’s largely female workforce often face limited access to education, low wages and repression of trade unions. Find out more here:

Flower farmers and workers - Fairtrade Foundation

The children in 2Lion’s Reading Cafe enjoyed the sweet and calming aroma of Fairtrade roses as they read!

Well done and thank you to our wonderful Fairtrade steering group! We are so lucky to have such committed and inspiring members! 

                                               Plastic Free Lunches at Oldswinford!

We have some good news to share with you! A number of children raised their concerns about the disposable plastic packaging used at lunchtime and in Grab-a-Bags. The Global Neighbours shared their views and acted on them. They wrote to our school Cook to try to find a solution to the problem of unnecessary waste and recycling. We are pleased to report that the kitchen will now no longer use disposable plastic containers for drinks and boxing and that reusable beakers have been ordered in replacement.

We are sure you will agree that this small change will have a huge impact on the environment, cost, sustainability and learning.

We have the power to make real change!