News and Events
Co-operate for Change! Fairtrade in Your School relaunched online
The resource pack Co-operate for Change! Fairtrade in Your School for KS2 students has been relaunched in online form.
Young Co-operatives Challenge, Co-operative Schools Conference
Students were challenged to form their own Young Co-operative in just an hour at the There is an Alternative for Schools conference which took place at Co-operatives 2010 in Plymouth from 25-27 June.
Everybody's Business resource
Everybody's Business, an exciting, animated web-based resource which introduces Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 students to ethical business, is now available to explore at www.enterprisevillage.org.uk/resources/everybodysbusiness/front.html.
Refurbish a school in South Africa – can you help?
You might remember a report in the last Young Co-operatives newsletter (November 2009) from Co-operative College Principal Mervyn Wilson, who visited W D Hendricks school in a poor area of Cape Town, South Africa, and was impressed to see how students are being empowered through co-operatives. Now, the school needs help to revamp and brighten up its classrooms.
Stonelaw High Fair Traders Young Co-operative on Ethical TV
Stonelaw High Fair Traders Young Co-operative in South Lanarkshire has sold over £20,000 worth of Fairtrade goods in two years, using the profits to sponsor the education of AIDS orphans in South Africa.
Bank on Owen campaign to get Robert Owen on Scottish bank notes
A petition is aiming to get Robert Owen, the father of social enterprise, on banknotes in time for the 2012 International Year of the Co-operative, joining other notable Scots such as Robert Burns and Walter Scott.
Fairtrade producers visit St Lawrence’s Primary School, Byker
Students learning about Fairtrade at St Lawrence’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, spent a morning in March finding out what life is like for farmers and their families in the developing world, thanks to two special visitors.
Sleep out video diary
During the Easter holidays, the Young Co-operative from Fulston Manor school in Kent slept out for the night after visiting a local homeless shelter. This is a video diary made by members of the Young Co-operative.
Al Khair say Fairtrade!
Students at Al Khair School, Croydon, get into the spirit during Fairtrade fortnight.
Juice 4 Life at Forest Gate Community School
This fantastic video shows students from Forest Gate Community School, a Co-operative Business and Enterprise College in Newham, East London, running a social enterprise called Juice 4 Life which provides the school with fresh, healthy smoothies.
Students talk about how coming across the problems and risks of running a business is preparing them with life skills for the future, and display the benefits of working in a group – as one student says, ‘it’s much easier with team work’.
Additionally, deputy headteacher Suresh Singh describes how work related learning helps equip the students with the ‘real skills that employers want’.
Because it is a social enterprise, the profits of Juice 4 Life go to a good cause and are invested back into the school. It is hoped there will be Juice 4 Life smoothie bars in the Olympic Park.