STORY PREVIEW

School: Each child wrote down what challenges they wanted to address - anonymously. This ensured they were totally uninhibited. a) There was an issue with one student annoying the others - this project gave the class the opportunity to raise this issue and it was dealt with by the teacher and parents involved. b) The school uniform. The class decided to each design their ideal uniform. They then each made a 3D model of themselves wearing the uniform. They wrote to the Principal and the BOM outlining the changes they would like to see in the uniform and why. The Principal was invited to their class and they discussed the uniform and explained their various uniform models. c) The class identified the need for a bicycle rack at our school and made this suggestion to the Principal, who investigated the matter and is awaiting costings. Neighbourhood: The children identified troublesome teenagers in their area. They acknowledged that there were plenty of sporting opportunities in the area but a need for other recreation opportunities, they wrote to their local councillors suggesting other facilities, scout hall, skate boarding park etc

During October and throughout COP26 the girls did a lot of work on climate and nature. From this they went straight to this Social Innovator Initiative. Climate Change took centre stage. The class discussed how they might possibly make an impact. Given that we were approaching Christmas the children noted that they had perfect toys at home that they had simply grown out of. If they could pass them on to another child - then that would negate the need for a.)that toy ending up in landfill b)the production of a toy.

Everyone - people and animals - are affected by plastic production and pollution. The pollution caused by: a. Sourcing the ingredients for plastic. b. The pollution caused producing the plastic. c. The pollution caused transporting the plastic. d. The pollution caused by the disposal of the plastic.

Pause Plastic Pollution: Use natural alternative products eg wooden, use only cloth bags, reduce consumerism, recycle old plastic, buy products only made from recycled plastic, mind our things and pass them on, use second-hand objects as much as possible, start a trend by not being trendy, avoid fast fashion, ask ourselves "Do I need it?" before I buy.

With Christmas approaching toys were very much on the childrens` minds and the discussion started on what they received previously and how it`s still perfect....for whatever reason. The children suggested passing their objects/toys onto the younger classes, this idea grew to enabling all the students in the school to pass on what they no longer needed - thus was born the Christmas Toy Swop

With Covid levels high being Covid Safe multiplied the jobs. The children approached local businesses and one donated recyclable plastic wrap for the sanitised toy donations. Divided into groups, each group was given a title eg Marketing / Supply/Collection. For each concern the girls had to plan what needed to be done. For example: Marketing - Details of "Swop" were decided, posters were designed and announcements were composed for the school intercom. The toys were collected, sanitised and sealed. All Covid safety precautions were taken.

The impact was huge. Given Covid, it was the first whole school event in two years - the children were really excited and the build up was great. Fifth class blossomed with the extra responsibility. The children wanted to raise some funds for the school and given Christmas was coming suggested a low voluntary contribution. Some of the Fifth class were in charge of "Entertainment" they got the younger classes singing carols and doing their Christmas dance on their way to their turn at the Swop. Every child in the school received a (good-as-new) toy and over 300 euro was raised for the school.

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"What a fantastic solution to making the challenge of plastic pollution confrontable in an understandable way." M.Poulter - Third class teacher "These toys are better than what`s in the shop!" Aisling - Fifth Class

Covid. The children had to maintain social distance throughout. They were only able to work within their PODs. All toys gathered were handled with gloves and sanitised then sealed in recyclable plastic. Classes attended the Swop using a one-way system with a 3min break between each class. The children kept notes of who donated from each class to ensure that they received their toy. A raffle ticket system devised by the girls meant that any toy donated that was not chosen could be returned to the child that donated it.

7-15 Days

Responsible consumption and production

Consumerism is predominant in our culture. When we first started our discussions the children were not strong advocates of using second-hand materials themselves. However, they soon realised that they do use more second-hand items than they realised. Our children are 10/11 and starting to get interested in fashion etc. When they researched fast fashion they learned about the detrimental effects it has on people and the environment. The idea of swopping what they no longer use with their peers was novel and exciting to them.

We shared the outcome of our school Christmas Toy Swop with: The school via Zoom Assembly Prizes donated by local business were raffled for each class. Our school website, Facebook page and Blog posted the event. Our school is a member of the DCU Changemaker network we posted our work on that network.

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Our students have asked for permission to run another Swop Shop before the end of the year. They have proposed expanding the idea to incorporate books. Currently our students are participating in the BFG to EU programme to further encourage active citizenship in their local and global community.