Starting off our second year of school programming, Caritas was excited to partner with a new primary school in Bournemouth, St Walburga’s. Our School Project Officer spent the day at St Walburga’s, presenting assemblies to the whole school and hosting consultation workshops for each Key Stage 2 class. The pupils were introduced to Caritas and the mission of Catholic Social Teaching, with a special emphasis on the environment and the principle of Stewardship. During each workshop, pupils were invited to engage with the different project posters and a selection of plants & herbs.

Promoting the concept of ‘using your voice for good’ there was the opportunity for each student to share their ideas for projects that Caritas could do around St Walburga’s to promote biodiversity and improve the school site. The responses from the pupils were amazing, as shown by one comment; ‘I liked seeing the herbs. The visit felt like a special treat. I enjoyed coming up with different ideas to help make our school better.’

With over 260 post-it notes from the children, we have plenty of student-centred proposals to consider as we begin work over the school year. Caritas is happy to welcome St Walburga’s to our growing partnership of schools and are keen to begin engaging the school community in these projects.