STUDENTS and staff at the Thomas Hardye School are celebrating its recognition as a Fairtrade establishment.

The Dorchester school received the accolade from the Fairtrade Foundation.

It happened after Hardyes showed its commitment to using Fairtrade products as much as possible, learning about how global trade works and why the organisation is important and taking action to promote its in the school and wider community.

The school’s move towards Fair-trade status was guided by humanities teacher and head of Year 12 Katie Taylor.

She had to set up a Fairtrade School steering group, which meets at least once every half term and guided the school’s Fairtrade policy – which was supported by the school governors and signed by the headteacher.

The school has also shown a commitment to selling Fairtrade products as much as possible in the canteen and staff areas, while Inter-national Baccalaureate students hold a weekly stall to promote suchproducts throughout the school.

Students also learns about Fairtrade in at least three subjects in two different year groups, with Year 9 geography pupils and those in Year 12 taking food technology lessons learning about Fairtrade, as well as the International Baccalaureate students.

A culmination of the work includes the school supporting Fairtrade fortnight with the steering group delivering assemblies to each year group.

Other activities have seen Fair-trade bananas and tea bags given away as part of a T-shirt design competition in Year 9, cake and biscuit stalls with students producing recipes and a fair in the Sixth Form Centre for the whole school.

The local Oxfam branch wasinvited along to sell its Fairtrade Christmas items.

Mrs Taylor said: “Everyone at the school has been fantastic in supporting Fairtrade.

“We are all committed to making this an integral part of how the school works.”