Newport school’s work tackling global poverty recognised with Christian Aid award
From foodbank donations and tree planting to toilet twinning, pupils and staff at a Newport school have been working hard to take their place as global citizens.
Newport Church of England Junior School has achieved Bronze Award status in Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours scheme, in recognition of its initiatives to encourage children to think of others throughout the world.
The accreditation programme celebrates schools which are helping pupils learn about global poverty and the Christian responsibility to tackle it, as well as giving them the tools to play a confident part in creating a fairer world.
As well as enjoying a curriculum that teaches them about global issues and injustices, the students have recently been involved in a toilet twinning initiative.
The global initiative 'twins' toilets with one given to a community who need safe places to go to the toilet. Funds raised also help support community education and sanitation programs.
Newport CofE Junior School global development lead, Max Jones said: “We are thrilled to be recognised for the work we have done as a whole school community to raise awareness of the extreme inequalities across our globe and perhaps more importantly, the steps we can take to address these.
"The pupils learn about global issues regularly and gain an understanding of injustice in our world. Our team of Global Avengers has worked hard to engage our school community and local businesses in their toilet twinning initiative.
“Pupils have been learning about examples of people who faced adversity and overcame this to be courageous advocates for change. These stories have challenged the whole school community to think about how each of us can make a difference in our local community and globally.
“Our world is increasingly connected and our hope is for our children to grow as responsible global citizens who care about issues such as the environment and access to healthcare.
"The children have especially enjoyed taking part in various activities to celebrate Earth Day as well as supporting the ongoing efforts with the conflict in Ukraine and looking at how lives across the globe can be affected by poverty and social injustice."