Eco Hosting Event

Sir Jonathan North Community College were honoured to host an Eco Event to Overdale Infants, Inglehurt, Marriott, Avenue and Braunstone Frith Primary School.The Fairtrade Group introduced the event and welcomed the different primary schools. They outlined the importance of their school group and the different ways they have raised awareness and funds for the Fairtrade Foundation.The members of the Fairtrade Group then split into groups and helped assist in the different workshops that were ran. The aims of the Eco Event were:

• to gain a greater understanding of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and Eco-Schools topics
• to develop new campaigns and identify ways of promoting sustainability in school
• the opportunity to network with other schools and learn about their environmental projects
• to find out about local and national projects and how to get involved

Keep reading to find out all about the fascinating workshops!How Bad and Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything~Have you ever wondered what the real impact of a banana is? The Great Carbon Footprint Game introduces the concepts of carbon footprinting and global warming and shows how even the smallest item has different environmenal and social impacts (including fairtrade). After an introductory plenary, pupils were able to play the game in groups and leave with a completed form with examples of different footprints.

Soil Secret Agents~'Soil Secret Agents is a hands-on workshop for children to discover a hidden world beneath the ground. Scientists who work with plants and soils will help pupils to explore how soil helps plants to grow and how "secret agents", such as fungi, keep the soil healthy. Students were able to investigate the ways which farmers can look after their soils to help grow healthy plants and prevent flooding. After a quick intrdoction, students were given the opportunity to measure the effects of soil compaction on plant growth, compare root systems that are normally hidden below the surface and see the effects of earthworms on soil structure. There were prepared examples to demonstrate materials for students to make to take back to their schools and observe over the following month.

Zakia and Fatima (year 8) planting seeds for the Fairtrade Group.

Just Fairtrade Workshop~Students learnt about the importance of Fairtrade and the role that is has. Sarah outlined how Just Fairtrade runs an exclusively fairly traded shop in Leicester city centre and helped students to begin to think about the importance of Fairtrade and the impact that it has.The Eco Event was a smashing success! The Fairtrade Group loved supporting the primary school groups and learning about the different ways they can become environmentally friendly.