Ethos and Values

Courageous Advocacy

St George's has been on a journey with Fairtrade since before 2014. At that point we decided to formalise our support and we began our work with the Fairtrade Foundation Schools Award. This began with a switch in the staff room of our tea and coffee and we bought our stock from Traidcraft and also used Kingdom Coffee as Fairtrade suppliers.

We began a half termly, then monthly, Fairtrade tuck stall selling Divine chocolate and trinkets from Traidcraft and jellybeans which have been a big seller. The children very quickly recognised the logo and staff would be creative in their ways of helping children understand what Fairtrade means. The fantastic resources from the Fairtrade Foundation have meant we have always lots of films, games and lesson plans to use. We use a display board in the Hall to show each year the focus of Fairtrade ranging from breakfast ideas to Fairtrade footballs, Fairtrade and climate change to Fairtrade cotton.

Ethos group have taken up the challenge of helping to embed our learning and are enthusiastic as they lead collective worship in school but also in December 2021, at the Methodist church in Hyde.

We have been granted the highest Fairtrade Schools award of FairAchiever since 2015 which means our learning is embedded and goes beyond a focus in Fairtrade Fortnight with a clear focus for moving forward.

We are always seeking new ways of developing our learning and sharing that learning with others. We have been to Fairtrade Conferences and hosted our own. We have invited churches in Hyde into school to learn about Fairtrade and start their own journeys.

We have partnered with the Co op and Koolskools in our understanding of business and how we can shop ethically.

2022 has been the year we have offered Fairtrade school uniform after a successful uptake of Fairtrade hoodies last summer, for our year 6 leavers.

The school supports Fairtrade because it allows others to flourish. It believes in the dignity of each person and the right to receive a fair price for their labour. Children appreciate that they have so much to be thankful for and by choosing to shop and encourage parents to shop for fairly traded goods, they are helping change someone's life. Fairtrade resonates with our values of love, justice and compassion and challenges us as school to think about the way we shop and live and the impact those choices have on other people. Fairtrade helps us all become better global citizens and agents of change.