CAFOD & Social Action Events
'We need to reach out to the world outside our gates'. Mr Pinnington
A key aspect of our Mission is to live in an inclusive society. Each year we invite our community to suggest charities for us to support. We then organise events through the year to raise awareness of the work that each charity does and to raise funds.
Sponsored Walk
Our major event is our Sponsored Walk. The entire school walk from school down to Whitlingham Country Park and back. This is also an opportunity to all come together as one community.
Each of our Houses are given 2 charities chosen by our School Council.
Christmas Market
We celebrate the start of Advent each year with a market. Students create and sell crafts and delicious treats to eat. We also have games and live music. The money raised is given to CAFOD.
2022-23
Notre Dame Students around the world are leading a global campaign to protect our common home. We are going to use our voices to take action and protect our planet's future.
Each of us is being invited to make a #promisetotheplanet. We want to hear our world leaders make theirs too.
This is our moment to be heard and to make change happen.
What will your promise to the planet be?
Messages of Hope and Peace
CAFOD invited us to design and create messages of solidarity to young people in Colombia. The designs have been made into material squares and stitched together into a wall hanging. It is going to be shown in schools to give young Colombians hope to strive for peace in their country.
Horstead Trip
We were invited by the Horstead Activity Centre to help develop their woodland area. The Broads Authority Education Team kindly came along to help. Together we planted over 200 saplings. We celebrated our achievement with hot chocolate and marshmallows! To view news articles on our trip click on:
2021-22
Christmas Market 2021
This year we raised £450 to buy 3 cows for farmers in Nicuragua. They are struggling with the effects of extreme whether due to climate change. The cows not only produce food and milk for the families. Extra milk can be sold at market. Cow manure helps crops to thrive. Calves are given to other families to help support them.
Crisp Packet Challenge
One of the members of Green Team found out about an amazing charity that transform crisp packets into emergency blankets. Within a couple of days we had special bins and signs around the school to collect packets instead of them being thrown away. The response was amazing. Then, 17th Norwich Cubs found out and mobilised their pack to collect packets. Even the cafe in the Forum offered to help and collected even more packets!
This shows the impact that one student's idea can have, by inspiring lots of others to do their bit to save the planet and help others.
A ‘Breath-taking View’ of our Planet
Students from our Green Team and Eco 6 visited St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich to see the internationally renowned ‘Gaia’ exhibition.
The artwork, by UK artist Luke Jerram, measures seven metres in diameter and was created from detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface.
The exhibit gave our students a unique perspective of our planet. It made them think about how everything on Earth is connected and affected by the impact of climate change.
“The experience was phenomenal as we saw our beloved planet with our very eyes. Now, we can change it into our perfect world.” Gemma
“The Gaia exhibition was wonderful, the globe was absolutely breath-taking. It really puts the problem of climate change into perspective.” Erin
“It was good to see a small scale of our planet and makes us question about why we are destroying it.” Freddie
“Gaia is our Earth, so we have to treat the Earth how we want to be treated.” Maya
Photograph by Kian
6th Form Attend Climate Debate with Clive Lewis MP
Our A Level Politics Students attended a debate hosted by CAFOD at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. They provided challenging questions on whether our political system is effectively addressing environmental issues.
Clive Lewis said that young people are right to be concerned about the impact of climate change which he called ‘the biggest issue we face today’. Mr Lewis pointed out that the UK has failed to fully meet any of its agreements made at COP21 in Paris in 2015.
At a local level, Mr Lewis raised concerns about the proposed Norwich Western Link Road which will cut through Wensum Valley’s ancient woodland. ‘How can we criticise the Brazilian Government for chopping down the Amazon rainforest when we are building on our own sites of uniquely high biodiversity?’
For Mr Lewis, the solution to the climate crisis requires democracy on a global scale with millions of people around the world speaking out. He finished with the challenge for us all to ‘be the change you want to see in the world’.
Green Careers
There is an increasing number of diverse careers in the environmental and sustainable energy sectors, particularly in our region.
To find out more visit our green careers page.
CAFOD Resources