Finding out about those who aren’t at school due to hunger - around 67 million primary school-age children - can be eye-opening. Pupils I’ve worked with in Scotland are quick to realise all the things their peers are missing out on, from reading and writing to playing with friends at lunchtime.
Learning about the lives of other children around the world has the power to widen the perspective of children in our classrooms, helping them understand similarities and differences, how they fit into the big picture and how we can all help each other.
Projects that do this really can empower pupils to make a difference.
I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to lots of children in Scottish schools about Mary’s Meals, which started in Scotland in 2002 and now provides daily school meals to more than 2.4 million children in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Pupils here in Scotland are eager to discover the meals their peers eat around the world, from Kenya to Haiti. We have worked with teachers across the UK on fostering a wider, global perspective among pupils.
They’ve learned about Failo, who lives in Zambia and likes football, reading and writing. He has a lot in common with many pupils in classrooms in Scotland. But what has helped attract him to school is the daily serving of nutritious porridge.
Access to food and education will hopefully transform Failo’s life, allowing him to pursue his dreams.
Pupils though Mary’s Meal resources can also explore different countries where the charity operates and how our meals provide a hopeful future for young people in countries such as Malawi. It’s fantastic to see how children can be spurred into taking action.
Lochnell Primary School in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, for example, ran a whole-school enterprise project to raise funds, with each class taking their learning in different directions.
The Primary 7 class connected their project to wider learning about sustainability, and used their new knowledge to drive fundraising through, for example, a second-hand clothes sale.
This new perspective, aided by working with a charity such as Mary’s Meals, can be, according to Lochnell teacher Emma Rossiter, “an excellent opportunity for pupils to be agents of change, campaign and encourage others to make sustainable choices and actively participate in raising money and awareness”.
Projects like that at Lochnell Primary are inspiring, and it’ll be great to see how other schools help pupils make a difference.
Sarah Mallon is West Scotland supporter engagement officer for Mary’s Meals
