The steps to becoming a Fairtrade school

• 1. Register your school

  1. Register your school

  Register your school here. If you have difficulty at this stage it may be that your school is already registered, in which case contact schools@fairtrade.org.uk so that we can help you to activate your account.

  Please note that only schools in the UK can get a Fairtrade School Award with the Fairtrade Foundation.

• 2. Complete your Audits: Product Audits

  2. Complete your Audits: Product Audits

  Find out which Fairtrade products you use around school already and where they are used. Do you use Fairtrade tea or coffee in the staffroom? Are there Fairtrade bananas in the canteens? Do you use Fairtrade honey or sugar in Food Technology? Do learners wear Fairtrade cotton uniform for school or school trips?

  This can be printed out and completed by students or filled in by a teacher.

• 3. Complete your Audits: Teaching Audits

  3. Complete your Audits: Teaching Audits

  Audit what your school is teaching about Fairtrade already and where in the curriculum.

• 4. Complete your audits: Learner Audit

  4. Complete your audits: Learner Audit

  The learner audit is to find out what your students already know about Fairtrade and the world around them in order to tailor your approach. It will also feed in to a large-scale data collection of pupils’ knowledge across the UK and allow us to make the Fairtrade Schools Award as effective as possible.

  The learner audit should be completed by at least 60 pupils and should only take roughly 10 minutes to complete. If you do not have 60 pupils in the school please contact us on schools@fairtrade.org.uk. The learner audit can be downloaded, given out to pupils and then collated. It is important to know that there are no wrong answers. This should be an honest reflection of the understanding and values of students so please try not to influence the answers in any way.

  Please note that if your pupils are under seven years old or have special educational needs we have developed an Alternative Learner Audit which you may find more suitable. The Alternative Learner Audit is based around a story pack for young learners which can be downloaded here.

  Once completed, add the information to your online schools account so that you can refer back and see what progress has been made as your Fairtrade plans go forward. 

• 5. Carry out a Learning Challenge

  5. Carry out a Learning Challenge

  If you are able to complete the Learner Audit, you should get a sense of which aspects would be best to focus on first. Perhaps young people are keen to understand more about the world around them but aren’t sure how they can make a difference. Or perhaps not everyone recognises the Fairtrade Mark.

  Whatever your school decides for the FairAware Learning Challenge, at least one whole year group must take part in an activity around Fairtrade issues. Then log on to your schools account and specify what learning resources were used – whether from the Fairtrade Foundation, another website, resources made in school or something else – and complete a short narrative about how the learning activity went.

  The activity might focus on:

  • Where our food comes from and the people involved in producing it
  • Examining the concept of fairness and what it means to be fair
  • Why there’s a need for Fairtrade
  • Why global trade patterns exist and how power imbalances in trade can cause poverty
  • How Fairtrade works and what impact it hopes to have 
  • Examining whether Fairtrade is a good idea.

  We have lesson kits, films and Fairtrade activities to help you plan your lesson.

• 1. Set up a Fairtrade group

  1. Set up a Fairtrade group

  It is important that your Fairtrade Group reflects the opinions of students in different year groups so that the whole school are represented. Although young people can take on responsibility for most activities, staff are crucial – from helping students to organise themselves to getting buy-in for Fairtrade around the school. It is also really useful to get members of your catering staff and perhaps a Food Technology teacher, a school Governor, parents or local Fairtrade campaigners in the group as well.

  We recommend that the group meet at least once a term to see how their work is progressing. Often schools combine their Fairtrade group with an Eco group or even with the school council.

• 2. Hold an assembly

  2. Hold an assembly

  Perhaps your newly-formed Fairtrade Group would like to present an assembly to help raise awareness and understanding of Fairtrade across the whole school.

• 3. Hold an event

  3. Hold an event

  Hold an event in your school or in your local community.

  Whether you host a bake sale, run a Fairtrade football tournament or collaborate with another local school to share your Fairtrade knowledge, events are a fantastic way to engage others with Fairtrade.

• 4. Take one of our Fairtrade challenges

  4. Take one of our Fairtrade challenges

  Because every school is different and what is possible in one school is not always possible in another school, the Fairtrade Challenges are designed so that you can pick and choose which one you would like to work towards. It also means that if you renew at FairActive you can try something different each time.

  We are aware that with the current circumstances this may be more challenging and so have added suggestions for how you could complete some of these challenges virtually or in class bubbles.

  For FairActive you will need to take one of the challenges below:

  Make a Fairtrade switch

  Making a switch might involve working with your canteen, catering company or even local authority to switch to Fairtrade bananas in your canteen. You could also encourage a local café or restaurant to switch to Fairtrade ingredients.

  Run a campaign

  Have a look at our Take Action pages and see if there are any national campaigns that your school would like to be involved with or perhaps younger pupils could create a campaign to encourage staff to switch to Fairtrade tea and coffee in the staffroom.

  Put on a Fairtrade event

  This might be a Fairtrade bake sale, a Fairtrade fashion show or running a stall at a local event to raise awareness of Fairtrade. This will need to be an additional event to the one required at step 4.

  Fundraise for Fairtrade

  This could be through a Fairtrade tuckshop or perhaps a bakesale. Take a look at some of the activities and games that we have such as ideas for event decorations and quiz sheets.

  Invite a visitor to speak about Fairtrade

  There are many people that you could invite to speak at your school – your local Fairtrade town group may have somebody who would like to come and speak to pupils about Fairtrade. Or get in touch with your local Co-op store to see if they have somebody who can talk about Fairtrade in your school or at a parents’ or community event.

  It is also possible to request a speaker from a member of staff from the Fairtrade Foundation.

  A school visit related to Fairtrade

  This could be a visit to an exhibition about trade, a schools conference or an event where a Fairtrade producer is speaking. Or talk to your local Co-op store about running a Fairtrade visit, event or activity with them.

  Hold a Fairtrade conference

  This would involve inviting other schools to come along to a day or an afternoon of Fairtrade activities. You can use our schools map to find out which other schools in your area are working towards their Fairtrade Schools Awards. If you would like any help with this challenge please let us know at schools@fairtrade.org.uk.

  Involve the wider community or another school

  Take your learnings and activities to another school in your area, show them what you have been up to and help them begin their Fairtrade journey. Or perhaps you could work with a local Fairtrade towns group on a project to share your Fairtrade work with the wider community.

  Invent your own Fairtrade challenge

  We’re sure that you have lots of great ideas that would suit your school so do feel free to get creative and come up with another activity that promotes Fairtrade in your school and/or local community.

• 1. Adopt a Fairtrade policy

  1. Adopt a Fairtrade policy

  Your Fairtrade Group should be responsible for the Fairtrade Policy if possible. This is a record of why the school wants to make a commitment to Fairtrade, and what the school would like to do to support Fairtrade. Please make sure your policy is signed when you upload it.

  For a sample policy, click here.

  When you come to renew your award please make sure you review your policy to ensure it is still relevant to your Fairtrade commitments.We recommend that the group meet at least once a term to see how their work is progressing. Often schools combine their Fairtrade group with an Eco group or even with the school council.

• 2. Repeat the Learner Audit

  2. Repeat the Learner Audit

  At this point you will need to carry out another Learner Audit. This asks young people a little about their knowledge, attitudes and opinions about the world around them and should take them around 10 minutes to complete. At least 60 learners should complete the audit – or the whole school if it’s smaller. If you do not have 60 pupils in the school please contact us on schools@fairtrade.org.uk. The Learner Audit can be downloaded, given out to pupils and then collated. These do not have to be the same pupils who completed the audit previously. It is important to know that there are no wrong answers. This should be an honest reflection of the understanding and values of students so please try not to influence the answers in any way. A teacher will need to record the results of the learner audit for self- assessment.

  You may wonder why you are being asked to repeat this audit. There are two reasons. Firstly it is useful for your school to see if there is any difference in attitudes before and after their work on Fairtrade. It will also highlight any areas where you may need to do more work. Secondly it provides us with longitudinal data about the impact of the Fairtrade Schools Awards on the knowledge and attitudes of young people.

  Please note that if your pupils are under seven years old or have special educational needs we have developed an Alternative Learner Audit which you may find more suitable. The Alternative Learner Audit is based around a story pack for young learners which can be downloaded here.

• 3. Embed learning

  3. Embed learning

  Embedding Fairtrade into your learning is a crucial element of the FairAchiever Award.

  There are lots of learning resources to help you to teach about Fairtrade, from films to lesson and assembly plans. If you need any more guidance on finding a specific resource then do let us know.

  For more information on how you could embed learning in your school, download our useful guide.

• 4. Use Fairtrade products

  4. Use Fairtrade products

  By the time you are a FairAchiever School you should be using Fairtrade products wherever possible. This might include tea, coffee and sugar in the staff room or at meetings, Fairtrade sugar and dried fruit in Food Technology lessons, Fairtrade fruit and juices in the canteen or Fairtrade cotton uniforms. Obviously some of these switches will be easier to make than others but it is always worth contacting your catering supplier or local authority and seeing if they are able to help in any way. Perhaps your local Fairtrade Group could do a presentation to show the benefits.

  There is more information on where to source Fairtrade pages on the ‘Buying Fairtrade‘ pages of the website.

• 5. Take two of our Fairtrade challenges

  5. Take two of our Fairtrade challenges

  Because every school is different and what is possible in one school is not always possible in another school, the Fairtrade challenges are designed so that you can pick and choose which one you would like to work towards. It also means that when you renew at FairAchiever you can try something different each time. If you have previously completed the FairActive Award then the additional challenges you selected at that point will be relevant to this section.

  We are aware that with the current circumstances this may be more challenging and so have added suggestions for how you could complete some of these challenges virtually or in class bubbles.

  For FairAchiever you will need to take two of the challenges below:

  Make a Fairtrade switch

  Making a switch might involve working with your canteen, catering company or even local authority to switch to Fairtrade bananas in your canteen. You could also encourage a local café or restaurant to switch to Fairtrade ingredients.

  Run a campaign

  Have a look at our Get Involved pages and see if there are any national campaigns that your school would like to be involved with or perhaps younger pupils could create a campaign to encourage staff to switch to Fairtrade tea and coffee in the staffroom.

  Put on a Fairtrade event

  This might be a Fairtrade bake sale, a Fairtrade fashion show or running a stall at a local event to raise awareness of Fairtrade.

  Fundraise for Fairtrade

  This could be through a Fairtrade tuckshop or perhaps a bakesale!

  Invite a visitor to speak about Fairtrade

  There are many people that you could invite to speak at your school – your local Fairtrade community group may have somebody who would like to come and speak to pupils about Fairtrade. Or get in touch with a local Fairtrade-supporting supermarket to see if they have somebody who can talk about Fairtrade in your school or at a parents’ or community event.

  It is also possible to request a visit from a member of staff from the Fairtrade Foundation.

  A school visit related to Fairtrade

  This could be a visit to an exhibition about trade, a schools conference or an event where a Fairtrade producer is speaking. Or talk to your local supermarket about running a Fairtrade visit, event or activity with them.

  Hold a Fairtrade conference

  This would involve inviting other schools to come along to a day or an afternoon of Fairtrade activities. If you would like any help with this challenge please let us know at schools@fairtrade.org.uk.

  Involve the wider community or another school

  Take your learnings and activities to another school in your area, show them what you have been up to and help them begin their Fairtrade journey. Or perhaps you could work with a local Fairtrade community group on a project to share your Fairtrade work with the wider community.

  Invent your own Fairtrade challenge

  We’re sure that you have lots of great ideas that would suit your school so do feel free to get creative and come up with another activity that promotes Fairtrade in your school and/or local community.