EthCo

The Butterfly Award was Angela's dream, a way of inspiring schools to involve their pupils in these issues. We renamed the award in remembrance of Angela. 

Why was it called the Butterfly Award?

It was once suggested that a butterfly flapping its wings could possibly cause a tornado, due to small atmospheric changes that the flapping creates. This ‘butterfly effect’ was researched by Edward Lorenz, who suggested that one very small change could have a huge impact in another way because of the ripple effect that the action had created.

We challenged schools to see how far their ‘ripple’ could go! Could they ‘flap their wings’ and take one small action that would impact positively on the planet or lives of other people. As well as this their ‘ripple’ should impact on the Millennium Development Goals.  We challenged them to come up with a creative and imaginative project, which they could track to show how far and wide their ripple had spread, so they could tell us where they had made a real difference and had positive impact on the world!

The challenge process was as follows:

Step 1: Choose one Millennium Development Goal that their ‘ripple’ would reach (see this website for more on the Millennium Development Goals) and decide their project

Step 2: register their‘ripple’ project on this website 

Step 3: Carry out the project to finish by end May 2010

Step 4: Put the project description online in this website by 15th June 2010.

Step 5: Prizes and certificates were awarded for the most innovative and creative projects from early and upper primary and early and upper secondary.

 Willamwood High School has established a strong and positive partnership with Ekwendeni Girls' High School in Malawi.

In May 2009 two members of staff visited the school in Malawi where they worked with the teachers and pupils, gaining an understanding of the education system in Malawi, of the methods and subjects taught, of community life and of the wider issues affecting the country.

In September 2009, two teachers from our partner school in Malawi visited Scotland and experienced first hand knowledge of our educatioanl system. In addition, they were involved with educating the pupils about Malawi, especially regardsing major issues facing their county, such as HIV and AIDS.

In June of this year, a party of 15 students and 2 staff members from Williamwood High School will visit Malawi and will be involved in the life of the school as well as in the local community, working with young people aged from 3 - 18.

How did you come up with the idea? We wanted to develop Confident Individuals, Responsible, and Global Citizens by giving our pupils an understanding of another culture, and by giving them an opportunity to become more charitiable by providing aid to those in need.  We wanted them to take responsibility and work as a team to meet common goals. We also wished to challenge them and give them skills for life, as well as making a real difference and positive impact on the world.

What did you do? Details of the project. So far, what we have done is send staff to the school in Malawi; we have had staff from the Ekwendeni school to visit us; we have organised and hosted whole school fund raising events for the last two years; we have formed links between pupils through pen-pals and video link; and finally, this year we have sent 14 of our pupils to Malawi to complete community projects in the local hospital, school, orphanage, and youth centre. The local communities greatly appreciated the help on projects and it gave our pupils a chance to interact on a more personal level with the local people and experience first hand culture of Malawi.

What did the pupils do? What responsibilities did they take? The pupils brought gifts from Scotland to give to the school, for example, laptop computers, stationary etc; they completed various community projects and formed links with the local hospital, school, orphanage, and youth centre. Within these projects, pupils took turns to take on Leadership roles. In the future, pupils will continue to take on positions of responsibility in order to determine what charity events to run for Malawi and decide what way to utilise the raised money.

What impact did you have? We have provided more equipment to the school to provide the Malawi pupils with a better learning experience, for example, further use of computers. We have also raised awareness in Scotland, not only for the pupils travelling to Malawi, but as a whole school, through yearly fund raising events.  Our pupils also experienced rich cultural and environmental diversity of another country, gained essential life skills, and had raised self esteem.

What is your ripple effect and how sustainable is it? What are your next steps? I feel the project is very sustainable as we plan to continue to make this one of our big fund-raisers in the coming years. Also, we hope to raise enough as a school in order to bring pupils from Malawi to Scotland in the next few years. In two years time, we aim to send out another group of pupils from our school again so that, by then, we will have forged lasting awareness and strong links

The idea came as a result of investigating suitable subjects for our P7/S1 Remembrance Assembly on 11th November 2009. I have a friend who works in the UN in New York who mentioned the Cyberbus website and its connection to the Millennium Goals - looking through the site I could see how useful it could be. The Goal concerning Universal Primary Education fitted in with CfE Global Citizenship and was something P7s and S1s could relate to. it also resonated with education as a key theme in resolving conflict. Fyne Homes had also been in touch with me about sending furniture from our old school site to schools in Africa under the auspices of the Charity Education for All.

After discussion with our Chaplaincy Team I contacted all our associated Primaries with the proposed cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary theme - Peace, Conflict and Resolution.

Pupils researched UN Millennium Goals website to gain information and understanding and presented their findings at the Assembly in a variety of ways.

Several Departments including Social Subjects, Music, Maths, French and Home Economics took part and S5 pupils acted as hosts on the day.

Pupils therefore investigated the importance of education to a country's development and in gaining peace and resolution in areas of conflict.

Social Subjects : pupils created colourful posters in groups showing their research and thoughts

Music : pupils made up their own wors to a traditional African song

Maths : pupils used coordinates to illustrate the theme

French : Lucky / Unlucky. Pupils compared the opportunities which they have with children in some countries who are not so lucky - and managed to present findings in French

Home Economics : pupils baked 'peace cookies' which were sold after the assembly. £60.00 was collected to send to the charity Education for All.

The younger pupils took responsibility for presnting the information and were nervous at the thought ! They did well however and gained confidence in knowing that they coped with the challenge. The S5 pupils took on the role of welcoming P7s from other primary schools and helping them throughout the process. I was very impressed with both groups, that they took the topic seriously, thought of other people, learned a lot through research and in presenting information to a large group and acted as responsible citizens during the assembly and at the two minutes' silence. Parents and carers were kept informed of the theme by information in our Newsletter.

Evaluation the exercise since November has shown that the pupils enjoyed the exercise, worked well in groups and learned about things which they did not know already. They have managed to transfer some of this knowledge and skills to other subjects and topics across the school. We hope to sustain this ripple effect by using the Millennium Goals as a way of enhancing the 4 capacities of CfE.

Our next step is to continue investigation of the Millennium Goals and are planning to look at Gender Equality with our new P7s and S1s next term.

How did we come up with the idea?

We started to learn about the 8MDG whilst learning about the interconnectedness of our world.  I held a World Leaders Conference so the children had a context for learning, which encouraged them to make decisions about projects around the world.  At the same time, the Pupil Council were beginning to raise awareness about the Back Pack Appeal for the charity Mary’s Meals.  We started to learn more about this charity, and how its goals were significant in terms of the MDGs.  The class seemed very interested in the fact that it costs the same amount of money for our school lunches for a week as it does to feed a child in another country for a year.  This sparked great discussion about the MDGs and how we could get involved in the Butterfly Challenge.   The class were very enthusiastic to get involved.  

We planned a mini project by setting a ‘big’ question and then identified ‘little’ questions to help us plan our tasks etc.  Our learning target was as follows: 

WALT… take action to help tackle, and combat, the global issue of world poverty and hunger.

Our big question:

How can we develop a campaign, which creates a ‘ripple’ effect, to address the Millennium Development Goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger?

 The little questions: (set in discussion with the children)

1. Which charity will we help? (Background information)
2. How will we promote and present our campaign to raise awareness and money for Mary’s Meals? (2 concepts – awareness + money)
3. Who and where will we target? (P7, all other school pupils + staff, families, local community, wider community – e.g. parents’ place of work.)
4. How can we track the progress of the ‘ripple’ effect? (Before + after – questionnaires + surveys etc.)

The class were then split up into teams – Planning, Researching, Marketing and Advertising teams.  The children were very keen to raise money for this worthy cause and demonstrated great enterprising qualities + skills.  After some guidance, they took most of the responsibility for developing and leading their teams.  Although they were split up, they were also working as a complete unit with everyone being accountable for each step and the overall development of the project. 

The planning team gave a PowerPoint presentation to the rest of the class to give the background to the charity Mary’s Meals, which then led to us entering a writing competition for Mary’s Meals.  This group also had to give a brief presentation at our school assembly.  The research team prepared questionnaires so we could collect data from classes, parents and local businesses, which was then presented in graphs.  The marketing team planned pupil, staff and parent challenges to help raise money and the advertising team made and set the criteria for making posters and leaflets etc. 

During a Health promoting week, the pupils planned, set up and carried out various physical challenges for each class in the school to participate in.  They charged a small fee for taking part in challenges including 'beat the goalie', 'netball challenge', 'hopathon', 'trim trail challenge' and 'beanbag' challenge.  The children took full charge of the events throughout this week, and had to ensure that they had differentiated activities to cater for ages from P1 - P7.  They also involved the nursery by helping them on a 'wheelie' around the playground.  Individual classes were also set the challenge to raise enough money to feed a child for a year - which many went beyond.  Staff challenges were also set to pay for a healthy lunch one day and a treat another.  The pupils made sure that they advertised and promoted their class and staff challenges by making posters and going round classes.  They actually carried out some market research in the first instance to decide what kind of activities to plan so that people would actually want to pay for them. 

Some pupils visited local businesses to carry out market research.  The post office was particularly helpful.  The pupils were allowed to display posters and leaflets, as well as a money tub for loose change.  The local estate agent was also very helpful by getting a contact to provide quiz sheets for sale as a means of involving the wider local community. 

The pupils involved their parents, and many placed orders for posters, leaflets and money tubs to take into their place of work.  The children produced all of these items. 

The impact on the pupils was huge.  This is evident in the enthusiasm, commitment and motivation that they have shown throughout the project.  Many now have some awareness of ethics in business, and the role that they play in a global Scotland.  The project has helped them to develop as better global citizens and to understand more issues of global citizenship.  Some pupils even brought in their own coppers that they had been saving for a long time because they wanted to donate it to this worthy cause.  I also believe that the project has helped the pupils to realise how lucky they are and to appreciate what they get.  The pupils understand and are active in taking some action - even if it is small - to make a difference. 

What is your ripple effect and how sustainable is it?

Our ripple effect certainly spread throughout our class to the whole school, to the local community and to the wider community with parents spreading the word in their places of work etc.  We have raised over £500.00 and are still counting!  Although the money will not last forever, the fact that the money will help to feed children in school means that they are also getting an education.  I believe this helps the sustainable development of the countries involved because as more children get educated, the results have to be positive for future generations.  We are helping people to help themselves.  This is also something that my pupils commented on during the world leaders’ conference - education is a key to providing for the future.  Mary's Meals is a simple solution to world poverty and hunger, but it is also helping to provide opportunities for education.

What are your next steps?

We need to set a deadline for all donations to be handed in so that we can get a final total and get our money to the charity, so that our ripple can make it to many other countries.

We are currently running a quiz competition, which closes next week.

We have a classroom visit arranged from a woman that volunteers with Mary's Meals (this was arranged through a parent), which will enable the pupils to get a different perspective about the charity.

Design certificates and thank you letters etc. for all the people that have helped to make this project a success.

Continue to develop understanding of MDGs, ethics in business and the role of Scotland as part of the global community that has a responsibility to take action to make the world a better place.

 We already had an existing partnership with Lukalu Umea Primary, Uganda and the pupils wanted to develop this. They had studied climate change and HIV and AIDS and exchanged information between the schools. Lukalu Umea Primary is in the Mpigi region of Uganda and the school has no running water or electricity. Our main means of communication is e-mail with the Head Teacher. This is a Global Schools Partnership and we had already applied and were granted a reciprocal grant. Kalenzi Mubarak, the Head Teacher was coming to visit us in May.

The pupils got together in groups and planned the next steps. What did they want to learn and how would they set about achieving these targets were what they discussed. 

To begin with the class set up a committee of five pupils, a teacher, a support assistant and a parent. The committee also liaised with the Pupil Council and the ECO committee. This ensured all aspects of the school were to be consulted.

In order to motivate the children they were given a structure and permitted to take autonomy and to be responsible for their own project.

We were looking into Fairtrade and ways we could combine this form of enterprise with the Butterfly Challenge. Uganda deals in Fairtrade coffee, so the idea of Kampala Koffee Kids came into being. This was a class decision for our company name. We also produced a logo. A school event was to take place during Fairtrade fortnight, which would involve parents and the local community and promote community cohesion. The committee wrote, then telephoned and finally visited three local supermarkets and discussed the variety of Fairtrade products on offer, cost comparison and where in the store they are displayed (see photos).

Primary seven made flyers and delivered them to the local community. The reasons for this, was to advertise the event and also to personally invite traders, local police and villagers. The pupils also composed letters to parents inviting them to the event.

During the lead up to this enterprise, the children researched information on Uganda and Fairtrade and decided to put the two together. Meetings were held by the committee and relayed back to the classes involved.

One primary seven class worked on climate change, while the other explored different types of products for Fairtrade. Two Power Point presentations were produced (see zip file). The Fairtrade group had been given vouchers and products from the supermarkets and purchased others on a sale or return basis.

Kampala Koffee Kids were going to promote their company at our Fairtrade event. They set about finding out how manufacturing companies deal with suppliers. This provided a much better understanding of how Fairtrade operates and the principals behind the organisation.

On the day of the event the pupils worked with the PSA who volunteered to serve the tea and coffee. The classes opened with their presentations, followed by a question and answer session. The children had set up a stall selling tea, coffee, juice, cereal bars, rice etc. They also ran a café with the help of the PSA. The morning was extremely successful, with many adults saying they would be buying more Fairtrade items in the future.

In May, Kalenzi Mubarak, Head Teacher of our partner school in Uganda, visited Mid Calder Primary (see photos). It was his first time out of Uganda and his first trip on an aeroplane. He was very excited to be visiting the school. The partnership has been going for two years and in that time we have had a number of successful projects.

Primary sevens were very keen to show Mr Mubarak their presentations and discuss similarities and differences in ways climate change is taught in Lukalu Umea.

Mr Mubarak has promised to look into Fairtrade coffee in Uganda and send information back.

Our partnership has been successful and it has been sustained for over two years, despite the slow communication between us.

Working with Lukalu Umea has permitted the pupils to learn about the subject taught in Uganda and the ripple effect will be to find better ways of working with Lukalu and improving communication Mr Mubarak raised awareness of his school with a talk to the PSA and Mid Calder Primary hope to continue this partnership for years to come.

http://calderlukalu.blogspot.com is our blog to raise awareness with parents.

Sunnyside Primary school wanted to provide a meaningful link with children in other parts of the world.  Through discussions with Pupil Council and looking at various options we decided the best way for us to do this was through the charity Mary's Meals.  We felt that poverty and hunger were acting as a huge barrier to many children accessing a basic education and by raising funds for Mary's Meals we could help in our own way.  By providing these children with a nutritious meal they were encouraged to attend school and for many children this would be the only way they would ever have been able to access primary education.  This charity links in very closely with the work Sunnyside has carried out in relation to the UNCRC and we have recently been awarded the Rights Respecting School Award.

With the support of our Primary 7s, Pupil Council organised a variety of fundraising events and invited guest speakers from UNICEF to address the school during assemblies.  Pupils worked in groups to organise a Sunnyside Funday where they had complete control over what stalls and activities were available.  These ranged from ‘Hook a Duck’ to ‘Splash Attack’ and catered for all pupils in our school. 

Pupil Council reported that the children of Sunnyside wanted to host a Talent Show and as a result Sunnyside's Got Talent was born with pupils paying a small entry fee to audition.  A panel of children then decided on the 10 finalists before the whole school voted for their winner.

A football tournament was also organised where pupils entered 5 a side teams again paying a small entry fee with volunteer referees ensuring fair play.  The winners were presented with a prize and a fun time was had by all.  Every activity undertaken illustrated the positive ethos in our school and pupils really entered into the spirit of each fundraising event.

We hosted a school show where all donations also went to Mary's Meals.  During this time we opened our doors to the public and hosted our own art auction with each piece showing a part of our Scottish heritage.  Visitors were asked to post their bids in bidding boxes and lucky top bidders were contacted to claim their piece of art.  Pupils were given responsibility for ensuring each piece was numbered and labelled and also for contacting winning bids.

During all of our fundraising efforts displays were clearly displayed with information about Mary’s Meals and our reasons for supporting this particular charity.  It was stressed to pupils, parents and members of the community how little it costs to feed a child in less fortunate countries.  E.g.  It only costs £6.15 to feed a child in Malawi for a whole year.  Information was also sent out to parents and guardians so they were fully aware of our efforts and the work we had been doing.

As a result of this project pupils between 5 and 12 were able to empathise with children all over the world and were appalled by the conditions faced by youngsters the same age as them.  It taught them about the appreciating what they have while trying to support those who are not as fortunate.  This project really acted as a strong catalyst in our efforts to become a Rights Respecting School and had a real impact on the children of Sunnyside.

We have continued to support Mary’s Meals and are in the process of carrying out the Backpack Appeal.  We raised £1150 to help provide school meals but were very aware that they desperately needed materials to work with once at school.  Pupil Council launched the backpack appeal and we are currently collecting unwanted bags and have plans to fill them with the necessary materials in August.  This seemed like a natural continuation of our support for children who need our help.

We  created an idea to save loose change in our empty school water bottles in 2008. We raised over £2,000 in six weeks. This was for Stonehouse Better World who have alink with Mulanje Mission in Malawi.

In 2009 it was accepted by Mary's Meals as one of their fund raising ideas and it is on their web site.Pupils designed a leaflet to promote the idea, which was sponsored by a local group Stonehouse Better World to print the first 5,000 leaflets which were distributed to schools in Britain.

We have now produced a travelling road show to take to other local schools to encourage them to take on the Change Challenge.

We are also creating a DVD to add to the Mary's Meals web site with instructions for teachers and pupils.

A whole school eco-school initiative encompassing the areas of: litter, energy, water, transport, health, school grounds, bio-diversity and sustaining our world.

General    Eco Assembly, staff meeting, Eco/Health Week, Inclusion of a budget in Eco Action Plan, Selection of Eco-Committee members, Pupil Health Committee class talks, build on Eco theme through curriculum.

Litter    Continue litter rota, Anti-litter poster competition, guest speaker from Go Greener, playground zoning.

Waste   Recycling of ink, cartridges and paper, involvement in Rag Bag Campaign, mobile phone recycling, wormery, Silly Sausage Programme.

Energy   Reinforce importance of saving energy in class, energy monitors.

Water   Reading of water meter, installation of water butt to collect water from the air conditioning overflow pipes.

Transport   Raise awareness of the school's transport plan throughout school community, apply for 'Cycle Friendly School' Award, participation in Walk to School/Ride or Stride Week, visit from Wee G ( anti vandalism) Bus,  visiting sports and dance teachers.

School Grounds    playground marking, install friendship bench in the playground.

Biodiversity   Nature walks in Rouken Glen, use of Morrison's vouchers to purchase planters for each class to grow own vegetables.

Sustaining Our World   Support for SCIAF, pollution topic in P7, apply for Fair Trade status, raise awareness of carbon footprint through Ride or Stride Week, raise awareness of food sustainability through  "plant to plate" sessions and "create a sustainable plate"  using organic produce. (Pupil health commmittee members will become Peer Educators").    Sustainable lunch boxes-awards for healthy lunch boxes and for children who bring Fair Trade items, home grown items and ethical foods such as organic produce. 

The school made full use of the EthCo first level task.

Evidence submitted separately.

To clear an area of unclaimed land adjacent to a municipal carpark of litter and other debris. To plant the area with wildflowers with the intention of bringing a burst of colour to our local environment and increasing biodiversity in a sterile environment.

The clear up has been organised by senior pupils to coincide with The Big Spring Clean and will happen on April 19th. The planting will follow as soon as possible after that.

Evidence submitted as photographs and documents.