YOUNGSTERS at a York school have been rewarded for their efforts to be good neighbours.

From tackling air pollution and litter picks, to working to provide a Community Fridge, pupils and staff at Carr Junior School have been working hard to take their place as global citizens.

They have achieved bronze award status in Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours scheme in recognition of its wide-ranging steps to love their 'global neighbour'.

The accreditation scheme celebrates schools that are helping pupils learn about global poverty and the Christian responsibility to tackle it, as well as giving them the tools to play a confident part in creating a fairer world.

GALLERY OF OLD PHOTOS FROM CARR JUNIOR SCHOOL

Sarah Hunton, school global lead, said: “We are thrilled to be recognised for the work we have done as a whole school community to raise awareness of the extreme inequalities across our globe and perhaps more importantly, the steps we can take to address these.

"The pupils learn about global issues, for example, climate change, regularly and gain an understanding of injustice in our world. Our pupils are passionate about caring for the environment and they encourage one another to travel to school sustainability, as well as speaking to our local councillors about how the road outside our school can be made safer and more environmentally friendly. We have learned about how life is lived in other parts of the world.

"Pupils have also been learning about hunger and how this issue affects people all over the world, including in our local community. Children learned about the work of Foodbanks and were inspired to contact local businesses to ask for funding to set up a Community Fridge. It was exciting for the children to see this come to fruition so that we can all work together as a community to reduce food poverty amongst local people and avoid usable food being wasted and going to landfill.”

Caroline Weir, education coordinator at Christian Aid, said: “The Global Neighbours Scheme was launched in partnership with the Church of England’s Education Office with a vision of helping young people understand more about the inequalities in this world and helping them to become courageous advocates for those who have no voice.

"It’s wonderful to see how staff and pupils at Carr Junior have taken this to heart and are seeking to tackle injustice. Christian Aid is also looking to recruit more volunteer teachers locally to go into schools to help us deliver the scheme. If you have experience of working with children and are excited about inspiring a new generation of agents of change, we would love to hear from you!”

Any primary school in England can join the Global Neighbours scheme. There are three levels of accreditation: bronze, silver and gold.