In Fairtrade Fortnight Year 6 learn about fast fashion

As you may already know, we have been celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight here at St Mary's Junior School. As we are not able to have our normal array of in-person activities, we are doing our best to bring the Fairtrade fun to our online world! We have discussed Fairtrade in our assemblies and in our classrooms, and in our forms we have also been learning about the importance of Fairtrade.

Last week, to link with Fairtrade Fortnight, the girls in Year 6 have been learning about fast fashion. In our PSHE lessons they discussed, at length, the impact of fast fashion on the environment, the climate, and the people, around the world, who are employed to help produce garments which are sold cheaply in shops and on-line in the UK.  The girls were also shocked to find out how much water goes into the production of cotton.  

It was heartening to hear about the ways in which the girls think about where their clothes from and we shared ideas about clothing swaps, wardrobe sharing, and passing on clothes to siblings, cousins and friends. 

We also have some girls in Year 6 who use their sewing skills to create new items from old clothes, like Chloe's cushions and Katherine's sock dog, and some who repair clothes that otherwise may be thrown away, like Elea's jumper.

In addition, Year 5 were learning all about Fairtrade tea production. This included the process from tea leaves being picked by farm workers to when the tea is available in our shops and stores. The girls also learned about the different factors which influence where tea is grown, the positive impact of Fairtrade for farmers and workers and what a Fairtrade Premium is and how decisions on how it is spent is made by the Premium Committee. The girls were tasked with how they themselves would spend a £1000 Fairtrade Premium if they were on a Premium Committee responsible for looking after a Tea Estate and its workers. From spending money on healthcare to mosquito nets, the girls decided what they would spend their money on and why and factored in which items may be more important than others. The girls showed fantastic reasoning skills and carefully considered how their choices made an impact on others.

Year 1 were not to be outdone and were also learning about Fairtrade. They enjoyed searching their homes for Fairtrade items and thinking how we can create a fairer world through our actions.

This week there is more Fairtrade Fortnight activity, we have also launched two Fairtrade competitions:

1) The Share your Vision competition, which allows the girls to express their dreams for what the future will look like. Girls have been working on their entries during Form Times and we are excited to see their visions!

2) The SMJS Virtual Fairtrade Bake-off! We hope that this will provide a fun family activity for the upcoming weekends. The details of the competition can be seen on this flier and families will be making a donation online to the Fairtrade Foundation as a part of their entry.

Well done to all girls in engaging with this important subject.