We were thrilled to learn that we have been awarded the ‘Fair Active School’ award by the Fairtrade Organisation. This is the second level of award from the organisation, having achieved our first award back in 2021 as a ‘Fair Aware School.’ The first award involved learning how fairtrade seeks to address unfairness in the food chain, with the focus of the ‘Fair Active’ school on  

considering how we can take action to spread the word about trade justice.

Fairtrade protects workers’ rights by ensuring they are paid the Fairtrade Minimum Price, are provided with a safe working environment, given the right to join a trade union, and make sure that discrimination and child labour is prohibited. These standards are met by the companies and farmers involved in the supply chain, empowering farmers and workers to take control of their lives, businesses and communities through trade. The UK is the world’s leading fairtrade market. In the UK there are over 4,500 certified products for sale. Purchasing any of these products will impact both the workers and the climate.

We completed various activities which counted towards our award this year, particularly around Fairtrade Fortnight from 27th February to 12th March. Here we held a series of events to raise awareness of Fairtrade, including a student talk on the importance of Fairtrade, an assembly, Fairtrade bake sale, a very popular Fairtrade chocolate tasting and quiz. 

One Year 11 enrichment group also enjoyed a Google Meet with our sister school in Pennsylvania, Notre Dame de Namur where they discussed issues of fairtrade and to encourage each other to consider the changes that can be made. Students put together presentations based on their research around the topic. We looked at where different tea is farmed, the factors that impact farmers and what Fairtrade does to help them. Students compared which shops sold Fairtrade products in the UK and USA and its popularity in both countries and enjoyed comparing different experiences in supermarket and coffee chains. We hope this partnership will encourage us all to further support fairtrade.

Here’s what Year 11 Charlotte said of the online meet-up, “Hannah, Yasmin and I really enjoyed speaking to the American students and found it very enriching. It was a very interesting experience, as not only did we discuss fairtrade, but we also had an in-depth conversation about their own personal topics for their final projects. One of the girls was doing a presentation about the Catholic church and how their teachings affect Fairtrade. We learnt a lot about the Catholic influence on Fairtrade, and hopefully our project helped her with research. Overall, it was an incredibly fascinating experience, and all the girls were friendly and interested in what we had to say.”

Well done to all the students involved – particularly our KS4 volunteering enrichment students.