A primary school in South East Northumberland has taken its first steps towards becoming a certified ‘Eco School’ after receiving the FairAware Award from the Fairtrade Foundation.

James Knott C of E Primary School in Ashington, which operates as part of Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, achieved the award in recognition of the efforts its pupils and staff have made to become more environmentally aware and conscious of the positive impact of using Fairtrade products.

Driven by the school’s ‘Eco Warriors’ group, pupils took part in a special assembly during the national ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ event held earlier this month to introduce the topic of Fairtrade – what it is and why schools should support it. Staff and pupils then participated in a series of audits to assess what Fairtrade products were already in use within the school, how Fairtrade was included in the teaching curriculum and what level of understanding the children had about Fairtrade.

The data was then submitted to the Fairtrade Foundation for analysis which resulted in the school receiving its FairAware Award.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have achieved the FairAware Award. The Award is the culmination of a huge amount of work to help us take the first positive step towards becoming a fully-fledged Eco School,” said Claire Donnelly, Class Teacher at James Knott C of E Primary School.

“The enthusiasm shown by our staff and pupils throughout the project has been incredible. Our Eco Warriors – a group of pupils from Years 5 and 6 have been fundamental to the success of the project having given up their break times and even stayed late after school to help compile the audit results and complete the online application forms.

“Looking to the future, we hope to achieve our second Fairtrade Foundation accredited award – the FairActive Award, by Christmas 2022 and to grow our eco community in school even further by electing a Fairtrade ambassador for each form class. The ambassadors will be responsible for suggesting ideas how we can improve our Fairtrade status, such as switching to Fairtrade tea and coffee in the staff room and stocking Fairtrade produce as part of our annual Market Stall day.”

Alan Hardie, CEO at Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, added:

“At NCEAT, we are passionate about encouraging our pupils to become conscientious global citizens, tuned in to the wider impact that they can have on the world around them through small actions taken in their own lives.

“I’d like to congratulate all of the pupils and staff at James Knott C of E Primary School on their FairAware Award and wish them every success with the continuation of the project.”

For more information about the Fairtrade Foundation awards for schools, visit https://schools.fairtrade.org.uk/fairtrade-schools-awards.

Last week, pupils at James Knott took part in the NSPCC’s ‘Number Day’ – a maths-inspired fundraising event to support the charity’s ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ initiative.

Pupils were encouraged to come into school wearing an item of clothing with a number on it and during the day, each class solved maths puzzles and took part in problem solving, reasoning and number games.

Pupil Voice, our school council, tells us that Numeracy is a favourite subject at James Knott. The children love to be challenged and like that there is always a right answer, so Number Day was a huge success and we helped to raise £163 for the NSPCC.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part and donated and to our super creative families for making such fantastic number-themed t-shirts and clothing!

NCEAT’s primary schools have been recognised in the UK’s top 50 schools for Accelerated Reader usage.

Accelerated Reader is an online platform which supports pupils’ reading skills. When they first start using the platform, pupils complete a STAR reading test which gives them a level based on their reading ability and advises on the books they should be reading. This allows teachers to ensure that pupils are challenged with an appropriate text and develops their reading fluency.

Once they have finished reading their book, they can then complete a comprehension quiz to assess whether they have understood what they have read. This gives teachers valuable information about pupils reading ages and also reading comprehension ability.

Prior to the summer holidays, the primary schools within the Trust had a big push on reading for pleasure, encouraging pupils to read at home with parents and carers. This push has seen pupils carry out over 28,537 Accelerated Reader quizzes online since August – that’s 28,537 books read across Bishop’s, Grace Darling, James Knott, Thomas Bewick and William Leech C of E Primary Schools!

Jack Christophers, Director of Literacy, commented:

“We’re absolutely blown away by what our pupils have achieved through Accelerated Reader. The statistics speak for themselves – our pupils have put in an amazing amount of effort and we’re extremely proud of each and every one of them.”

To find out more about reading in the primary curriculum, visit our Reading Corner!