The accreditation scheme celebrates schools that are helping pupils learn about global poverty and the Christian responsibility to tackle it, as well as giving them the tools to play a confident part in creating a fairer world.

Christian Aid judged our school against various work that the children have undertaken over the last year and were pleased to award us the Bronze award. From writing to our local MP about support for asylum seekers or how to ensure that Foodbanks in Basingstoke are given the vital support they need; to donating food for local people, pupils and staff at St Mary’s Junior School have been working hard to take their place as global citizens.

The award is a culmination of various working groups across the school, including our Green Team who work hard to think about how we can make a contribution to Global issues by reducing our electricity usage and encouraging recycling. Our Global Friends team work to maintain our links with our partner school in Uganda, making meaningful and positive links for our children to our global community. Also, work within our curriculum and in our classroom were judged as having a wider impact for the children and helping them to recognise the contribution that they can make in the world.

The award is a great recognition of the work that we are already doing and we are now working on the Silver award by considering how else we continue to push our ‘One Family’ value beyond our school and into our wider community and global neighbourhood.