The children at Colne Engaine Church of England Primary School have recently been learning all about the devastating effects of poverty by taking part in a range of special classroom activities designed by Oxfam.
Having travelled to Zambia as part of Oxfam’s ‘See For Yourself’ project in 2018, Julie Sarti, Headteacher of the School, was eager to get her pupils involved in the charity. This opportunity came about when an email from John McLaverty, one of Oxfam’s Youth Workers, arrived in Julie’s inbox. Aware of Julie’s connection with the charity, John wondered whether her Year 5 and 6 pupils would like to learn more about the importance of charity work by trialling Oxfam’s new educational resources.
The children were incredibly engaged with the resource’s activities, which took interactive learning to a whole new level by asking the key question ‘What Do We Need to Thrive?’. Activities included making climate crisis wristbands and mind-mapping ways to help end poverty, and the staff were so impressed with the sensitivity and thoughtfulness that each pupil brought to the day.
On being asked about the success of the day’s activities, Julie said,
“The key messages of compassion and responsibility held by Oxfam really feed into our school’s ethos. The children enjoyed contributing their thoughts and opinions which will help to support Oxfam’s Primary Learning Team for future resources”
The feedback given by the children was incredibly positive and. One particularly moving part of feedback came from Sycamore Class’s Daisy, who wrote a touching piece about how a lot of the world ‘takes much for granted’, and that she’d like to ‘grow up in a world where things are equal’.
