What schools are saying

St Stephen’s Primary School, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire

Challenges undertaken – The Food We Eat and The Energy We Use 

A rainforest-friendly revolution is taking place at St Stephen’s Primary School in Coatbridge as a result of the Sky Rainforest Rescue Schools Challenge. Staff and students are turning off lights and gadgets, the school is using a larger number of Fairtrade products, composting food waste and growing some of its own food. 

Getting started on the Sky Rainforest Rescue Schools Challenge couldn’t have been easier for students at St Stephen’s Primary School. Headteacher Mary Cruickshank used a citizenship group session on a Friday afternoon to introduce the Challenge. 

“I showed the children the website using the Smartboard, they decided to call their team Global Kids, we registered the team members and got started on a Challenge then and there – it was as simple as that.”

Student-led activities
The citizenship group that Mary runs is a mix of 5 year olds to 11 year olds. Working together as Global Kids, they quickly got to grips with The Food We Eat Challenge. “It was great to see the older children guiding the younger ones, checking they finished their tasks, then uploading the data and pictures themselves. I stood back and left them to it. They were staying in at playtime and lunchtime and they were getting things finished really quickly. This really is a student-led activity.”

Global Kids started the Challenge by carrying out an investigation into the use of Fairtrade products at school and at home. When they uploaded their results a bespoke action plan was posted by the Challenge organisers on the website in their ‘Team HQ’.  Working to this plan, the team then embarked on a series of activities designed to change attitudes and behaviour among staff and students.

The team made posters and displays, created a board game and even wrote a play. “The play is about two children who win a competition to go to the rainforest and they find out how it’s being destroyed and they make a documentary about it,” says 11 year old Chloe.

Points and prizes
As they updated the website on their progress, the team earned points and received feedback from the Sky Rainforest Rescue Schools Challenge team. “They got encouragement from the Challenge team as they made progress – they really liked that it wasn’t automated and there were real people on the other side,” says Mary Cruickshank.

The points system really motivates the students, according to Classroom Assistant Lorraine Thomson. “They are very aware of what other schools are doing, and they always want to take on new activities to earn more points,” she says.

The team has also worked on The Energy We Use Challenge – and as a result have appointed ‘light monitors’ to patrol the school and switch off lights and gadgets when they are not being used.

Global Kids were delighted when they won Team of the Week and a Flip Ultra Camcorder for the school. “They love every minute of the Challenge because they are the ones in charge and not us,” says Lorraine.

According to Mary Cruickshank, the Challenge has fitted perfectly with Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. “We try to help our students to become confident, responsible individuals,“ she says. “The Challenge has been really been a fantastic, practical way to develop these attributes in all of those involved. This project has also stretched our able children, who have taken it forward in a way we wouldn’t have expected of them.”

What the students are saying:
“We were really excited when we won Team of the Week. We’re now on the last step on the Challenge – once we’ve finished we are going to start on another one.
”Chloe (11), Global Kids team

“Now I tell my mum and my brother to save electricity.”
Keira (5), Global Kids team

“It’s been great fun working with the younger children and because you are learning by doing things rather than just reading about it. I like typing and I’ve been given the job of blogging and uploading pictures.”
Katie (11), Global Kids team

“Staff are now going around switching the lights off because they don’t want to be caught by the ‘light monitors’.”Lorraine Thompson, Classroom Assistant

“Now more of the things used in school are Fairtrade but they weren’t before. It’s important to buy Fairtrade products as they make a difference to the people who make them – and they’re better quality too.”
Katie (11), Global Kids team