An Ammanford comprehensive school has become one of Wales’ first six Peace Schools.
To become a peace school, a scheme developed and run by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, students in the school lead on efforts for their school to become a place where everyone is safe, respected and valued.
Ysgol Dyffryn Aman began the scheme with Year 8 students and built it through the rest of the year groups throughout the school.
History Teacher Rachel Evans heard about the scheme when she attended a teacher training day.
“I was inspired by the idea and it fitted ideally with the work on critical thinking we wanted to do as a school,” said Rachel.
“It is super for a cross-curriculum project - history, geography and maths.”
The school began by having fortnightly Sustainable Development Goal themes with school assemblies, class discussions and TED talks and a group of volunteers have been recruited as Peace Ambassadors to promote the scheme.
Peace Ambassador, Delyn Walters, said: “Peace is a big part of our lives, which maybe I didn’t realise.
“Now I understand more about the news.
“After we did our project on Syria, I could explain something about the conflict to people.”
Ms Evans added: “The Ambassadors have gained in confidence as they have learned more.
“New ideas for Ysgol Dyffryn Aman have been generated such as the wellbeing room and also cross-curriculum learning.
“The Peace School Scheme helps promote well-rounded citizens – locally, in Wales and the world.”
The Peace School scheme is free available to primary and secondary schools across Wales.
Schools can work towards level 1 or level 2 accreditation and are given peace school status in annual Peace Conferences in November.
Contact centre@wcia.org.uk for more details.
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