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Windmill Integrated Primary School signs up for new Save the Children educational campaign20/03/2009
Windmill Integrated Primary School in Dungannon has become one of the first schools in Northern Ireland to sign up for a new year-long programme and campaign which highlights the effect of conflict on children around the world.
This new educational scheme, called “Conflict Children”, was created by First News, a weekly newspaper for 7-14 year olds, in partnership with the charity Save the Children and The Department for International Development.
It seeks to help young pupils understand how millions of children just like them are affected by wars and violence across the world. Often conflict can leave whole families homeless, cut off from proper schooling and without basic necessities like food and water.
Children may even be forced to take on weapons themselves, which is why another main aim of First New’s campaign is to call for a complete end to the use of child soldiers.
Organisers hope that the programme will give students in the UK a voice on the important issues raised and produce some real progress. Just under 200,000 pupils from around the UK have already joined up and First News is hoping more will follow.
Nicky Cox, the paper’s editor, said: “Our readers told us that they wanted to do something to help children like them around the world who are being affected by conflicts.
“It is so important that our children gain a deep understanding of some of the causes and effects of conflict, knowing that they can play their own part in helping to change the world for children.”
Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread added: “This is a ground breaking campaign where we hope the biggest number of UK children ever will join voices to stop children around the world being forced to fight.”
After signing up, each school will sign a letter of support for the campaign which will then be sent to Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development and David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs.
The schools will also get access to their own education resource pack, developed for use in the classroom, which includes a teacher’s guide lesson plans, case studies, activity sheets and a DVD.
As well as this, pupils will get a chance to enter a competition to find a Young Journalist and Young Designer. Winning entries will be printed in First News.
For more information on the campaign, or to sign your school up, please click here and visit First New’s website.
