Courageous Advocacy is at the heart of our curriculum, here at Buckden CE Primary Academy.

As a Christian School it is part of our Ethos to support those who are in need. Luke 3:10-11 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

We teach a curriculum that is based around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 goals were defined by the United Nations to tackle the world's biggest problems by 2030. Hundreds of millions of people do not have enough food to eat; women still earn less money than men and have fewer rights; plant and animal species are rapidly vanishing; fossil fuel energy resources are declining; and the gap between the rich and poor is getting wider.

As a school we work together to ensure that sustainability is considered at all points and becomes embedded in all that we do. We have looked at what we can do to meet the goals within our school and community. We have reached out to support and encourage other practitioners to consider teaching a curriculum similar to ours through the Ely Diocese and Anglia Ruskin University. We have made connections with The British Council and are working with them to learn from schools in other countries how they are teaching about the SDGs

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The goals allow us to look at these most pressing global issues, giving our children a voice to discuss them and to be part of the solution both now and in the future.

We encourage our children to be courageous advocates for others through our 'Think it, Believe it, Live it' philosophy and recognise when our children come up with solutions to help those in need with the Courageous Advocacy Award. We feel that this proactive approach is helping our children to flourish as future citizens.  Some of the awards given have been for raising awareness about the homeless and supporting them through inviting Three Pillars into school to share their mission, a food collection and bake sale to raise money for the charity. We have had a class hold a second hand uniform sale, as they were concerned about fast fashion and the amount of clothing entering landfill.

Also, as a whole school we are very proud to support many charities over the year, these include local, national and international charities. Our children are encouraged to help choose the charities we support, in many instances these will be linked to the sustainable development goal of focus that term. School Parliament and Collective Worship team will then present these, which gives the children opportunity to be part of democratic decision making. In Year 6 the children have the opportunity to organise a fundraising event of their own during ‘Enterprise Week’ where they choose the charities they support, again democratically with a vote.