PUPILS at a school near Chard have been honoured for their efforts to be good ‘global neighbours’.

Children and staff at Combe St Nicholas primary school have been hard at work recycling and tackling plastic waste, helping local people who have become homeless, and more.

The school has 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 celebrates schools that help pupils learn about global poverty and the Christian responsibility to tackle it, as well as giving children the tools to play a part in creating a fairer world.

Christine Maxwell, headteacher at Combe St Nicholas School, 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 regularly and are gaining an understanding of injustice in our world.

“Our pupils care deeply about the environment and encourage all of us to recycle and reduce single use plastics in school.”

Caroline Weir is the education coordinator at Christian Aid.

She 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 Combe St Nicholas have taken this to heart and are seeking to tackle injustice.”

Pupils have been learning about issues such as the impact that war can have, including forcing people to become refugees.

Mrs Maxwell added: “These stories have challenged the whole school community to think about how each of us can make a difference in our local community and globally.

“We took part in Christian Aid’s scheme because it gives us a practical way of living out our school value of compassion.”

Any primary school in England can join the Global Neighbours scheme.

There are three levels of accreditation, which are verified by Church of England Education Office assessors.

They look for evidence across five areas: school leadership, teaching and learning, collective worship and spiritual development, pupil participation, and community engagement.