Year 5’s Successful Summer Book Swap!

This year, we took part in an exciting project called Carbon Zero School with the Green Schools Project. We learned all about the effects of global warming and explored the ways we can reduce our impact on the planet. If you’d like to find out more about what we’ve learned during this project, please click here.

As part of the project, we calculated our school’s carbon footprint and discovered that purchasing was one area where we could make a real difference. After lots of discussion and research, we decided on our class project: to organise a summer book swap and donation opportunity! We know how important reading is, especially during the long summer holidays, and we wanted to give everyone the chance to discover some new books without needing to buy brand new ones.

We worked in groups, each with specific roles, and communicated brilliantly with one another to bring everything together. Some of us designed digital posters and uploaded them to Google Classroom (to avoid wasting paper), while others wrote an email to Miss Coleman to ask for permission to host the event. A few of us even met with her to go through the event logistics. One group created a questionnaire, and another team filmed and edited a video assembly to promote the project across the school.

The book swap took place over two days. On the first day, people dropped off books they no longer wanted or had grown out of. Then, we spent time sorting the books into the correct key stages, so that children and parents could easily find something suitable. On the second day, children were invited back in to browse and choose a book (or two!) to take home. We even made some homemade bookmarks using scrap paper from the classroom, as a fun little extra!

We’d also like to say a big thank you to the parent helper who supported us with organisation. It made a huge difference and we really appreciated it. Thank you so much, too, to all of you who donated books and came along to support us.

We’ve learned so much through this project; not just about climate change, but about teamwork, creativity, and how small changes can make a big difference. As a Catholic school, we know that looking after the world is part of our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation.

We hope that you enjoyed our book swap!
What have you done to help protect our planet and which book did you choose?