Global and Eco Learning
Global learning helps pupils make sense of the increasingly globalised, complex and rapidly changing world in which they live. It enables pupils to think critically about world issues and to develop an awareness of the impact our own actions can have on others.
At St Patrick’s, we aim to develop a holistic approach to global learning which equips our pupils with the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes and dispositions that will enable them to realise their potential and make a positive contribution to our world.
We aim to nurture and enrich each individual child through providing a positive, happy and healthy environment in which all people within both our school community and the wider global community are valued and respected. And we seek to enable individuals to achieve their full potential through an understanding of Catholic social teaching which calls upon us to preserve the dignity of all human beings, to care for creation, and to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need.
Pope Francis emphasises that it is our duty to work together to bring about a more just and peaceful world: to put love into action.
“We are called to solidarity with the poor as well as stewardship of the Earth. Our deep regard for the dignity of every person commands us to cultivate a climate of life where each of God’s children thrive and join with creation in praising our Creator. This is the ‘integral ecology’ of which Pope Francis speaks.”
(Pope Francis, ‘Laudato Si’ – Care of our common home’, in 2015.
Implementation
The school will fulfil its commitment to the Global Dimension and Laudato Si by ensuring that Catholic social teaching is an integral part of subjects such as history, geography and English, it is not taught just in RE.
Here at St. Patrick’s, we take a cross curricular approach to teaching our children to be thoughtful about and challenging of the world’s organizations and communities and to recognise the importance in us all working together to build a better world for the future.
Through Connecting Classrooms, St Patrick’s have developed a partnership with schools in Kenya, Africa. Connecting Classrooms is a global education programme run by the British Council, the aim being to help children develop the knowledge, skills and values required to work in a globalised economy. Through our partnership we hope to promote and enrich global learning at St. Patrick’s, deepening interest and expanding on children’s critical thinking skills.
In our commitment to further develop children’s global learning and understanding, we have teamed up with ‘Picture News’ to help develop their understanding and appreciation of the global and ecological issues in the news. Each week, a brief explanation of a news headline, along with images, is used for discussion points in class.
As part of our ecological approach to the curriculum, we adopt a See Judge Act methodology. This means identifying something we believe we need to change, driven by our Gospel Virtues, and to take action to make a positive difference.
As a school community, we want to develop children’s understanding of how we can protect the precious world that God has given to us. We want to empower children to drive change and improve their environmental awareness to make the world a better place.
At St. Patrick’s, we have a dedicated EcoWarrior team, which is composed of children from Years 1 to 6, as well as members of staff from across the school. We are extremely proud to be part of the internationally recognised Eco Schools Green Flag Award and achieved the Green Flag award over a sustained period of years.
St. Patrick’s fulfils its catholic mission and commitment to the global dimension by ensuring that learners are given opportunities to fulfil the following aims:
- help pupils to understand their role in a globally interdependent world and explore strategies by which they can make it more just and sustainable
- familiarise pupils with the concepts of interdependence, development, globalisation and sustainability
- enable teachers to move pupils from a charity mentality to a social justice mentality
- stimulate critical thinking about global issues, both at a whole school and pupil level
- help schools promote greater awareness of poverty and sustainability
- enable our school to explore alternative models of development and sustainability in the classroom.
Impact
Through our curriculum and teaching, we aim to empower our pupils to develop their potential and to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives within our increasingly unequal, interdependent and rapidly changing world, which presents them with many challenges as well as opportunities.
Our global curriculum will help our pupils to:
- explore and make sense of the big issues in the world
- think critically and creatively about topical and controversial issues
- deconstruct issues and events and consider them from a range of perspectives
- communicate with people from a range of countries and cultures
- develop self-awareness and a positive attitude to difference
- argue a case on behalf of themselves and others
- reflect on the consequences of their own actions now and in the future
- link learning to taking responsible action
- participate in society as active and responsible global citizens.
Eco school and Global Action plan
Eco’s in action!
