Art and Fair Trade At John Hampden School

SINCE winning the Walking section of the Thame Carnival last summer, with its ‘John Hampden Goes Bananas’ entry, a Thame primary school is aiming to become a Fair Trade school.
As a fitting climax to its Arts Festival, John Hampden Primary School’s Arts Cafe this afternoon, during an exhibition of the art produced by the children for Arts Week, two weeks ago, offered Fair Trade refreshments, including some made by the teachers using Fair Trade ingredients.
The Co-op in Thame donated some Fair Trade items and Waitrose donated ingredients for some of the children to decorate cakes and biscuit.
The Fair Trade ethos extends to the staff room of John Hampden School, where they now use only Fair Traded coffee and Tea.
With International Fair Trade Fortnight coming up, links into the curriculum at the school will include learning about the economy of developing countries, their cultures and generally being made aware of the effects of globalisation on those cultures and thinking about what it would be like to live in such an environment, all linking into geography, PSHE (Personal Social & Health Ed)and other areas of learning. Even writing ‘thank you’ letters to the teachers who organised the Arts Festival fits into the children’s Literacy curriculum which includes writing formal letters.
Kate Sewell, who has helped organise the Arts Festival, told ThameNews.Net:”It is hoped that the Arts Cafe will help raise the parents’ awareness of the implications of Fair Trade as well as the pupils’ “
She went on:”We cannot organise this sort of activity without the support from the community and are so grateful to the likes of Co-op and Waitrose, ex-pupils, grandparents, the hall hirers who have gladly given up their activities so that we could use the hall, and everyone else who has been involved.”

As well as all the art projects going on, throughout the last two weeks, parents have been able to brouse and buy books as part of a ‘Book Fest’ and today the children dressed up as their favourite book characters, including Darth Veda, mini mouse, Nanny McFee and Willy Wonka.
Tomorrow, Friday, a Music Evening for adults will include the teachers performing, and parents themselves playing musical instruments.

ED. At a time when schools come in for a lot of criticism in the national press, like all the primary schools in Thame, the hard-pressed staff at John Hampden school, continue to come up with exciting and stimulating ways to teach our children about the changing world around them and I for one, as an ex-parent, owe much of my childrens’ continued success in their eduction to such wonderful people.