On Friday 23rd April we helped the GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION break the World record for the biggest ever lesson. In over 100 countries, 7.5 million children, adults, teachers joined politicians to learn about the importance of everyone having the chance for a quality education.

Despite being a small school in what is not the richest part of the city the children have always been very enthusiastic about helping others less fortunate than themselves.

In some parts of the world people go hungry and malnutrition causes much suffering and disease, yet here in the UK we have a big problem with obesity because eat far more than is good for them. In a similar fashion there are many children in our area whose families do not value education and truancy is a big problem in lots of schools. It is important to remind us of the children who are eager to walk miles to a school which is just a blackboard nailed to a tree with no books or pens just to get a chance to better themselves and they call themselves lucky as 72 million children throughout the world still do not get that chance at all.

Liz a professional photographer from the Western Mail & Echo came into take some photographs for the articles in our local newspapers the South Wales Echo and The Western Mail.

As ever we also had a member of Class 5 going around snapping all these shots for us to share on this website.

We think he did a great job and has taken some nice shots - so many thanks for a job well done to him.

Next door in Class six Dosbarth Aneurin Bevan they demonstrated that you do not need interactive whiteboards or fancy presentations to learn and took a more traditional approach by sitting on the carpet and discussing it with Mrs Meyrick and Mrs Garcia.

Next door again in Dosbarth Roald, Class 4 were busy getting on with the lesson. The main 'learning objectives' of the lesson were:-

1. To explain the importance of getting a good quality education.
2. To explain the number of people who do not get an education.
3. To explain the impact not being able to read and write or count has on someone’s life.
4. To ‘teach’ politicians a lesson about the importance of education and the need to take urgent action. So we sent off the buddies we made earlier and told our MP Kevin Brennan and our MEP Glenys Kinnock (We had planned to meet her down at the Senedd yesterday but the teachers strike made that difficult) We are very lucky that as former teachers themselves they are both very switched onto the issue and are very supportive.

Mrs Kathleen Jones is our lovely 'Athrawes Fro'who told us about when she visited her friends in Kenya who had asked her to bring out a few pens when she visited. The local school children all had to supply their own pens and paper which was very expensive. The Kenyan children she met were so grateful that she wished she had taken more out to give them.

The children all had to wear uniform which also cost a lot of money and as soon as they got outside the school gate they would take off their shoes so as not to wear them out walking on the dusty road track home. Again for us poverty may mean that we have to put up with just a few games for your playstation.

At the end of the lessons the classes came together for an assembly and shared some of the facts that they had learnt and their feelings about the event.

LINKS

You can read the article in First News in our Library or online.

You can see when Glenys Kinnock visited us with Oxfam last year. (You can also read her article in the Western Mail here about the need for global Education)

You can also see when our MP came in in 2005 to work with what was then Class 3 who are now class 6 making buddies

The main CAMPAIGN FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION website will of course tell you all the details you need to know.

The Send my Friend 08 is where you can make 'a buddy' online. You can look at class 5 making a buddy with the help of Rod from Oxfam here