Tag: Rowan Class

Continuing our look at Fairtrade chocolate

To begin today’s lesson, Mr Stanley drew two chocolate bars on the whiteboard and asked the class to deliberate on what factors would lead to them buying one bar or the other. The children came up with the following considerations:

  • Taste/texture
  • Price
  • Size
  • Special offers/promotions
  • Fairtrade mark
  • Advertising
  • Brand
  • Type (dark, milk or white)
  • Quality
  • Condition

We then looked at what the Fairtrade mark actually means and identified the four key components of this:

  • It means farmers and workers get better wages and working conditions
  • It guarantees a fair price for the producers
  • It provides extra money to go to the community
  • Allows small farmers to join together in cooperatives to sell their products.

We discussed how community money might be used to improve sanitation, provide teachers for a school,improve medical care or to build housing. Next, we looked closely at the different stages of the journey from producer to consumer and arranged them in the correct order.

  1. After he has scraped the cocoa beans out of the cocoa pod, the farmer leaves them to dry.
  2. The dried cocoa beans are weighed.
  3. The sacks of cocoa beans are loaded onto a ship, ready to be brought from Africa to Europe
  4. The cocoa beans are ground. Milk and sugar are added to make chocolate – yummy!
  5. Chocolate bars are formed, wrapped and packed. Then they are delivered to the shops.

Mr Stanley then outlined one final task before we evaluate the learning unit. The children have been set the task of writing to Tesco persuading them to stock a new Ugandan Fairtrade product – Crested Crane Chocolate. They have also been asked to design the chocolate bar and a new Fairtrade Mark. The results of this will be seen in the next blog post.

Fairtrade and chocolate

For our third session on fair trade at Liss Junior School, we focused on chocolate. Two thirds of cocoa produced worldwide is estimated to be grown by smallholders. West African economies are critically dependent on cocoa. For example, revenue from cocoa accounts for more than one third of Ghana’s total export earnings, and 40% of those of Cote d’Ivoire, the
world’s largest cocoa producer. The instability of the world cocoa market, with its huge fluctuations in prices, means cocoa farmers are in a precarious situation – most struggle to make a living.


In Britain we eat more chocolate per capita than any other country, each consuming around 9.5kg per year (and these figures are from before the Covid pandemic when chocolate consumption rocketed).

As a class we approached the topic by taking part in a survey all about chocolate. The class were first asked if they liked chocolate. 26 out of 27 (96%) said YES. Next, they were asked what their favourite chocolate was. As you can imagine, there was a wide range of answers from the classic galaxy bars all the way up to posher Lindt (just for information, Mr Stanley favourite is the Kit Kat chunky – which was fairtrade as of last year). they were then asked to explain what attracted them to certain types of chocolate bars. The children were very honest and many of them said that advertising played a major part – it just goes to show how much of an influence advertising has on children.

The children were then asked a question. For every 100 chocolate bars in the UK, how many are eaten by men, women and children. This promoted a fascinating discussion. Most of the children thought that children ate the majority, men the second biggest amount and women the least. There was one exception in the class (who shall remain nameless) who thought that his mum ate more chocolate than the rest of his family put together.

The children were surprised by the results. Out of every 100 chocolate bars:

Men ate 26

Children ate 34

Women ate 40

So our nameless pupil was the closest to being correct. We then looked at how much money went to various people in the production chain of chocolate. So for every £1 bar of chocolate:

7p goes to the cocoa farmer

40p goes to the chocolate company

28p goes to the retailer

15p is taxed.

Once the children heard these figures they were outraged and questioned the fairness of this, There then followed a discussion about how many times we have all bought chocolate that is not fair trade rather than fairtrade chocolate because the non fair trade chocolate is cheaper.

Next week, we are going to look more closely at how fairtrade helps chocolate growers and what we can do to support them

Discussing dilemmas for UK and Uganda

Last week, Year 6 pupils in Liss had their last lesson where we looked at rights and responsibilities. Firstly, we looked at the role of rights bearers, the people who make sure that rights are enforced. For example, if a child has the right to a tidy classroom, but a responsibility to ensure that they keep it tidy, then the rights bearer has to ensure that a classroom is provided in the first place,

After this we discussed dilemmas that may make us think carefully about rights. The children were asked to discuss one of two dilemmas:

Have the government the right to impose a ban on junk food for all school dinners in the UK?

Should parents be able to take children out of school to support their parents in the field at harvest time in Uganda?

Both questions generated some fierce debate. The children had to choose one of the two questions to answer while working as a pair. Here are a couple of their answers:

Holly and Leila

Junk food in schools shouldn’t be banned as if it was banned then our rights are being denied. If we eat too much junk food then that’s our fault and we would have to deal with the consequences. If junk food was banned then the children/adults who are sensible eaters wouldn’t be able to have a break once in a while from healthy choices. It isn’t ok to eat loads of junk food, but it still shouldn’t be taken away from us. We should be able to make our own choices and if our choice is to eat lots of junk food then that’s our own fault.

On the other hand, junk food should be banned as too many people are overweight at a young age. If we can’t control our diet then we should get as much help as we can. Other places can supply a treat for those who eat well, so it’s good for everyone. If there was too much unhealthy food on menus, people would most likely choose it over healthy options. Some people eat a lot of junk food outside of school so why not ban it inside school so we can convince them to be healthy.

We don’t think junk food should be banned as that would deny our rights to eat freely without being told what to eat. We should be able to control and convince ourselves to eat healthily, and if we can’t we deserve the consequences of being overweight. If unhelathy food was banned, it’s likely less people would get school dinners as it wouldn’t be something to look forward to, like a treat for healthy eaters. It’s our responsibility to stay healthy and we should only treat ourselves once in a while.

Levi and Isaac

We think that children should be banned from working in the fields as it will ruin the education of most children in Kafuro. If they don’t go to school then they will most likely not pass their end of year exams. Therefore the only job they will ever have will be in the fields.

On the other hand, we think that children shouldn’t be banned from helping their parents because if the school was worried about children working in the field s during harvest then they should just change the term dates and that problem would be solved.

In conclusion, the right of any child in Kafuro is to have a good education, but they have a responsibility to access it.

We asked Yowasi whether it was possible for Ugandan schools to change ter dates to fit in with harvests. Yowasi told us that schools do not have the power to do this and the Ministry of Education in Uganda sets the term dates. He added that the start of the rainy season has been so inconsistent in recent years that even if the dates changed there would be no guarantee that they would get them right.

Rowan Class reply to questions from Kafuro children

Greetings to our friends in Kafuro. We enjoyed reading your last post and we have collated our answers to your questions. They are displayed below. We look forward to hearing your own answers on Tuesday.

Which animals do you always see in the park?

QECP: Deer, squirrels, foxes, rabbits, ducks, badgers, hedgehogs.

QENP: Elephants, lions, kob, hippos

 

Which animals visit you from the park?

QECP: Deer, squirrels, foxes, rabbits,

QENP: Elephants, hippos

 

Among the animals you have mentioned, which one do you like to see most and why?

QECP: Deer because they are shy animals and you don’t see them very often.

QENP: Elephants because they are so big and majestic.
Which animals do you not care to see and why?

QECP: Deer because they are shy animals and you don’t see them very often.

QENP: Elephants because they are so big and majestic.
Which animals should be removed from the park?

QECP: Most children said none of them because they are all important. A few children said rabbits and squirrels because you see them all the time.

QENP: Lions and snakes because they are dangerous killers.
Name the wild animals that live in water

QECP: Frogs, tadpoles and newts

QENP: Crocodiles and fish

 

What problems do hunters face?

Both parks: (This was Mr Stanley’s favourite answer) They have to get past the rangers!
What should the park authority do to the hunters?

Both parks: Ban them from the parks and if they kill animals they should go to prison.

 

How can we together prevent hunting?

Both parks: Get more rangers to guard and protect the animals. Use poster campaigns and educate people to stop poaching.

 

Which animal in the park is the best in cooperation?

QECP: Birds work together to build nests

QENP: Elephants work together to protect their young.

 

What do you learn from the cooperation of the animal named above?

We have learned that by working together we achieve more.

Finding solutions for issues at Katunguru Primary School

In our geography topic, we have been looking at how we can problem solve issues that affect different communities. Mr Stanley gave Rowan Class a scenario based on his first visit to Katunguru Primary School in 2012. Since that time, much has changed at the school but a couple of issues  are still relevant. The scenario is outlined below:

Katunguru Primary School is located near to the main road that runs to Kyambura. The community is based here as it is close to a nearby lake, a plentiful source of fish. Most of the families fish for a living although there are many orphans at the school.

Katunguru appears to have the following issues:

  • Animals routinely wander onto the school grounds destroying vegetation and posing a threat to the community.
  • Building a fence to keep the animals out is not an option as there are high levels of theft in the area.
  • Relations between the community and the National Park are difficult as the community want to get rid of the animals by killing them while the UWA (Ugandan Wildlife Association) wants to protect them.
  • Desks in the school are stolen as the community needs firewood.
  • Trees that are planted are chopped down by the community for firewood.
  • There is no night time security at the school as no one is willing to pay for it.
  • Although there is electricity close at hand, the school does not have access to it.
  • There is a water tank nearby, but the tap has been damaged so the community cannot get water without going to the lake.
  • The school is seen as being at the heart of the community and its importance is recognised.

Working together in small groups can you come up with some suggestions to improve matters for the community and school at Katunguru. Write this as a report with recommendations at the end.

The children worked very hard to come up with some solutions. Here is Amelia’s:

The main danger at the school is animals! The reason for this is because, animals like to graze and can break through walls. They cause great danger to the children at Katunguru Primary School.

We should dig a hole around the school field to prevent animals from getting to close. Hopefully, the animals will see the ditch and not come any closer to the school. They can get children’s parents to help for children’s safety, and the rangers can help because they don’t want the animals to die, so they would help them.

Instead of getting glass for windows, they could use bamboo and banana leaves as blinds. Using bamboo will make it stronger and hold them up. Banana leaves can be used to fill in the gaps and then fill the holes in the walls with the blinds.

The school can try to get from their twinning school, so that they can get bees. There are two ways that bees help. One of them is to scare away animals, and the second one is that they produce honey which they school can sell to get their money back! And a final one is that the bees can be a good topic for the children at the school.

We would like to know what the children at Kafuro and Katunguru would recommend in order to safely keep animals off school land

 

Answers to Kafuro children’s questions

Greetings to all of our friends at Kafuro. We were very grateful for the answers you gave to our questions and very pleased that you had some questions for us. Here are the answers we have compiled:

What do you have for lunch?

Mimi says: At Liss Junior School we can either have a school made lunch or we can bring in some food from home. If we have a school made lunch we have to order it on a computer (sometimes we forget!). But, if we have a home-made lunch we put it on our class lunch trolley.

Katherine says: Packed lunches (homemade lunches) sometimes when the weather is nice we sometimes get to eat outside. With our friends. Also school dinners get to have an option that if you want to you can have a picnic lunch and you can sit outside with the packed lunches.

Mimi and Katherine say: For school dinners (school made meals) we have 3 options during late autumn until early spring. Then, during late spring until summer holidays, we have 4 options. The 4th option is school made packed lunch for eating outside.

Mr Stanley adds: Children who bring a packed lunch to school will normally include sandwiches, some fruit or vegetables, a bag of crisps and possibly a small bar of chocolate. Those children who eat school dinners will have meals with include pizza; a roast dinner with (Irish) potatoes or pasta. Chicken, pork and beef are the most popular meats, but goat is slowly growing in popularity.

Who is your president in England?

Lily and Scarlett: There is no president in England, because we have the Queen who is still reigning, but she doesn’t have any real power like the Prime Minister. All the Queen can do is sign papers to say that she agrees to place Government policy into law, but she can’t  say no or refuse to sign the papers.

Mr Stanley adds: The Queen is known as a constitutional monarch because although in theory she is in charge of the country, she has no power. She is a figurehead, but cannot tell the government what to do.

When you misbehave at school what does your headteacher do to you?

Freddie and Harrison write: If we are naughty the headteacher will look at us and give us a warning. The next time we misbehave, we are sent out of class for five minutes to think about our behaviour. If we misbehave again we are sent out of class for the rest of the lesson and we have to do a really boring work pack. If we get sent out of class twice in a week we have to have an internal exclusion where we spend a whole morning working outside the headteacher’s office.

Mr Stanley says: The children in Rowan Class are very well behaved so it is very rare that anyone gets into trouble. We like to focus on rewarding children for good work and behaviour. However, children know that if they do misbehave there will be immediate consequences.

Do you have bicycles at home?

Yes, many people have bicycles. Normally, when you get your bicycles you ride on them every day, but when your mum/dad puts the bicycle away in the garage you forget about it for a while and barely use it for a long time.

Mr Stanley says: Lots of children at Liss bring a bike to school and children in Year 6 undergo bicycle training so that they know how to ride safely on our busy roads.

How does your country look like? Is it as green as our country, Uganda?

Brooke and Harriet say:  In England there are some places which are very green and similar to Uganda, but others such as London (our capital city) are very modern and busy. In Liss (where our school is placed) the community is not too busy but it does have an average amount of houses.

Yowasi and Muhudi told us that England is too too cold and it goes beyond freezing temperatures, what do you do to prevent yourselves from dying of too much coldness and ice.

Hamish and Alex say: We are used to the cold but when it is freezing outside we wear thick clothes and coats, gloves, hats and scarves. If some of us don’t have warm clothing, we stay inside and sit by a warm heating machine (or as we call it a radiator) or we light a fire in our fireplace.

Do you pay school fees like us in Uganda? How much if yes?

Jessica and Ellie write: We don’t pay school fees but it is included in the taxes our parents pay. Some schools in England, however, you have to pay for these; they are called private schools. We have to pay for school trips and sometimes we have fund raising events.

Do you know how to use a hoe to dig your gardens? (is it done in the holidays?)

Freyja replies: Some of us know how to use a hoe but not all us do. We use a hoe when our garden needs to be weeded, but sometimes we do it during the holidays.

 

Please feel free to send us some more questions. The children have enjoyed answering them and will have some more questions for you soon.

p.s. Welcome to Kafuro, Posiano. We look forward to hearing more about you.