Th
ematic Unit bbc.co.uk/northernireland /forteachers
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Introduction to Thematic Unit
Clothing has got cheaper and cheaper over the last thirty years. Where once, children may have received clothes twice a year and/or at special occasions, some pupils now may buy fashion items every week
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and throw them away after they’ve been worn a couple of times. This thematic unit looks at the phenomenon of ‘fast fashion’ and its cost in terms of the environment and people’s lives. It makes pupils th ink about where their clothes come from and consider their responsibility as consumers. There is a strong emphasis on Learning for Life and Work in this thematic unit. The
Local and Global Citizenship unit looks at working conditions that many of our high street clothes are made in. In Personal Development, pupils look at the fashion advertising and imagery and investigate how it influences young people’s self
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image.
The Employability unit asks pupils to research the roles and jobs within the fashion indu stry and create their own ethical fashion project.
Other subjects also contribute to the theme with a Geography unit in which pupils investigate the environmental impact of the cotton industry. The History unit explores the linen industry in Northern Irel and during the nineteenth and twentieth century.
Finally, the Art and Design unit encourages pupils to think of new ways to lengthen the lives of their clothes by recycling and reusing.
Whole
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School Ethical Fashion Event
All the units contribute towards a whole
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school event. At this event, there will be a fashion show of the Art and Design unit’s recycled fashion creations. The Local and
Global Citizenship team will hold a clothes
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swapping event. The Employability team will use the opportunity to sell their ethically produced products. The other units will display and present their findings on ethical fashion. External agencies and charities that promote