Courageous Advocacy

Choose the world you want...........

Our passion to create a fairer and more just world is rooted in our vision, ‘Let all that you do be done in Love’. We believe that it is our moral purpose to become ‘agents for change’ to sustain the wonderful world that God created for us.

It is our belief that we can make a real difference just by making small changes and by having hope and aspiration to make bigger changes. We take action through our values - showing love and compassion when we give to the Foodbank; giving hope when we support Fairtrade; showing thankfulness when we celebrate what we have and by actively giving to others. We look for opportunities to make changes in serving the common good to strive for a fair and just world, reflecting the words of Mark (12:29-31) ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’.

At St George’s, we ask questions to encourage awareness and discussion about injustice around the world from ‘Why is there too much litter?’ to ‘Why don’t some people have enough food to eat?’ We think about actions and solutions to highlight and change some of the unfair things that are happening in our local and unique context but also in the wider world. We look at the bigger picture and consider why there is injustice and what response we can offer to help to rebalance inequality and disadvantage. We question why decisions are made and how we can work together to challenge the injustice and unfairness we see and encourage people to see things from a different perspective.

We follow the Christian Gospel, and the example of God’s powerful love and compassion for all. We believe that every individual is made in the image of God and this is where each person’s ultimate worth lies. We have endless hope for all people and all situations and seek to improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. Living in a multicultural community, we grow in faith together; we learn from each other and about each other, knowing that God wants us to live together in peace.

We recognise that making a difference involves giving time and commitment and that it sometimes requires courage to act in our responsibility towards others. We learn to make decisions that will affect ourselves and others and to consider the consequences of our actions. We make decisions based on a clear moral purpose and show leadership by demonstrating what we believe to be important and advocating for those suffering injustice and disadvantage.

In our pursuit to be ‘Agents for Change’, we hold fast to a hopeful vision for the future of God’s world. Along with the prophet Micah we ask, ‘What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8).

Year 6 - The Bread & Butter Thing

Year 6 have been thinking about the high costs of living and ways we can help.

They have been helping at The Bread & Butter Thing by packing bags to help recycle surplus food.

Year 6 Afghan Appeal

Year 6 have been Courageous Advocates and have donated to the Afghanistan Crisis appeal run by Tameside which helps refugees arriving in our country. They collected lots of essential items that these families will need now they have relocated to the UK, they were given a certificate from the charity Tameside Stronger Together Network.

We know that there isn’t an answer to war but we can control how we react to it and try to make a positive difference in today’s society.

Book Donations

Year 3 were so excited to get a response to their letter from Morrisons, who have donated some books to our school library. It was a great feeling to know that their courageous advocacy of letter writing has helped the rest of school to enjoy a wider selection of books.

They were really excited to look at the activists and equality book and love the David Walliams books too!

Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

We had a full two weeks of learning and activity to highlight our commitment to Fairtrade and the difference our shopping can make to the farmers who grow our food and the workers who make our products. We made posters,smoothies, baked, gave presentations, led collective worship and welcomed our families back into school for a cake and coffee afternoon. The Co op very generously supplied our ingredients to bake and we used Fairtrade sugars, cocoa, bananas and chocolate. We had a Fairtrade stall which was well supported and the children are so pleased to know that by choosing Fairtrade they are making a difference. Supporting Fairtrade is not charity it is empowering people and also giving farmers the skills they need to cope with climate change and learn how to farm differently. We are working with Koolskools who produce Fairtrade cotton school uniform and this is another step in our Fairtrade journey. Our prayers were to thank God for the all that we enjoy and to ask forgiveness for taking so much for granted. We ask God to help more farmers work with Fairtrade which improves their lives and the whole community.

St George's Learning Challenges

Our Learning Challenges are real and purposeful opportunities to make changes and challenge disadvantage, inequality and social injustice. We think about what changes we can make and how we can make those changes for the good of ourselves and for other people.

We act as ‘Agents for Change’ and are proactive in making our world a better place.

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Year 3 Courageous Advocacy

Year Three have been focusing on the local area around us and whilst carrying out their fieldwork, they discovered Hyde Old Library.

We were terribly upset by the terrible state that the building was in and discussed the vocabulary that linked to our feelings to describe what we found. Following this, we researched the building, finding newspaper articles and YouTube videos of the before and after images of this once wonderful building.

The children were so upset that they decided to gather their ideas of what the building could be used for and how it could help the community. They then wrote letters to opur local MP Jonathan Reynolds, asking what is being done with the building and offering our suggestions. We went one step further and used our computing and typing skills to type up the letters that we sent. We look forward to his replies!

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Year 4 Courageous Advocates - British Red Cross

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week Year 4 have baked some biscuits. They have decided to be courageous advocates and raise some money for a charity. For the rest of the school year they will bake every week and sell our treats to different classes. The money raised will be donated to the British Red Cross which helps people in the UK and all over the world who are in crisis.

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Year 6 Courageous Advocate - Volunteering Award

Congratulations to Anisah who has been presented with an award for her voluntary work with Diversity Matters this week.

Anisah has volunteered with the group for 2 years and help with crafts, cooking and other activities. She now wants to get involved with sports with the group. Anisah thinks this is a great thing to get involved in because she is helping people get involved in the community and she is meeting lots of new people and helping them getting to know each other. Anisah loves spending time at the Centre and is keen to get some of her friends involved. Well done Anisah, we are so proud of you!

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Year 6 Courageous Advocate - Charity Run

Edee has shown amazing determination to become an ambassador for the Healing Little Hearts Foundation. She was inspired to get involved when her cousin became ill and needed treatment. Edee decided she wanted to help her cousin and other children after that. Edee is now helping the charity to raise money by running. Well done Edee!

COP26 Service at Central Methodist Church, Hyde - led by the Ethos Group

The Ethos Group were truly inspirational in leading worship at the Methodist Church in Hyde on Sunday 26^th November. They were part of a campaign for the church to become an Eco church sharing some of the work we have been doing around COP 26 in school. The children acted out the story of the Good Samaritan to show how we have explored the value Compassion. They used the reading from Genesis to illustrate the importance of looking after God’s creation and explained how we, at St George’s, show our values thankfulness and compassion through collecting for the Food Bank and supporting Fairtrade. They wowed the congregation with their ‘Legacy’ song and finished with prayers and then asking the people to make their ‘pledges to the planet’. The children organised a Fairtrade stall to promote Fairtrade products which was really well supported.

Mrs Mather, Mrs McKeown and Mrs Hewitt were really proud of the children and the amazing way they presented Worship.

They were a credit to St George’s and Real ‘Agents for Change!’

St George's Foodbank Harvest Donations

ETHOS group were delighted to help carry the 21 bags of food and toiletries for Sue from the Foodbank when she came this week to speak to us. Sue explained how many people the Foodbank helps and that people need help for lots of different reasons. We are showing our value of compassion every time we bring something for the Foodbank. It’s good to know we are making a difference.

St George's Harvest - Promise to the Planet

We celebrated our Harvest service outside, in God’s wonderful world, giving thanks for all the good gifts we have.

Yet we know that many people do not have enough.

We listened to the story of Ruth and Boaz, an example from the Old Testament where they both put other people first.

We thought about how we can also look to the needs of others.

In class we have learnt about COP26 and we made our promises to the planet. We thought about Fairtrade farmers and how climate change will affect them if we don’t take action being ‘Agents for Change.’

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