A day off-curriculum well spent
At Westbourne House School, our specialist teachers are not scared to go off-curriculum when it will enhance the children's learning. Mrs Langford, our Deputy Head - Academic, teamed up with staff to design a day specifically for learning about fairtrade, sustainable farming and, you guessed it, the banana and chocolate industries! From trading games and a knowledge treasure hunt, to an insightful talk from Tony's Chocolonely and hands-on chocolate bar design workshops, our pupils had a rich learning experience.
Ethics of the Chocolate Industry: CEO of Tony's Chocolonely, Douglas Lamont
We had the honour of welcoming back Old Westbournian and Chief Chocolonely, Douglas Lamont, to speak to our children about the changes his company is pioneering in the chocolate industry.
In 2025, Tony's Chocolonely was named in the iconic Time100 most influential companies list. It is a company with a vision - to raise awareness, lead by example, and inspire others to act.
"Only together can we end exploitation in the cocoa industry." Tony's Chocolonely
Pupils were concerned to learn about the 'bitter truth' of the chocolate industry and inspired to learn how Tony's are working towards a future where chocolate is free from child labour, farmers are paid a living wage, the farms are not deforested and the beans are traceable.
With his (plastic) machete, Mr Lamont showed the children how farm workers break open cocoa beans, including children who work on cocoa farms. He explained how his company has created Tony's Open Chain to ensure fairer pay and safer conditions for all farmers and workers.
Design your own chocolate bar
Our pupils’ last challenge was to design their own chocolate bar and pitch it! Not only the wrapper, but the flavour, the brand ethos and that all important USP (unique selling point).
“We encouraged the children to be as bright and as bold as possible with their designs to make their chocolate bar stand out from the crowd."
Miss Hannan
The children had some truly sophisticated ideas, and experimented with making connections between their titles, logos and their slogans:
Tick Tock Bar: Time stands still for a Tick Tock Bar.
After Douglas Lamont’s inspiring talk earlier on in the day, it was fabulous to see his principles of equality and sustainability manifest themselves in the children’s work:
The Blast Bar – 50% of its profits go to children’s charities
Some children also included their bar in ‘Tony’s Open Chain,’ which invites other chocolate producers to match Tony's Chocolonely's standards for fair pay and sustainable sourcing:
The Equality Bar – different but the same – a part of Tony’s Open Chain
Trading game
This game helped pupils to understand the inequalities which exist in world trade. They were split up into teams and assigned different countries, each of which had different materials, resources and rules to work with.
"Children traded with materials and different shapes (each of various values) which they made themselves out of paper. Some countries were afforded high value card and others were given stickers which quadrupled the value of their currency, while others did not even have scissors."
Miss Hannan, Year 4 teacher
Children quickly realised that trading was not 'fair.' This was only exacerbated by their bankers (Mrs Pullen, Mr Allingham and Mr Gago) who were constantly updating the value of each different paper shape and announcing the discovery of new materials in various countries. These ever-changing circumstances encouraged our pupils to be agile thinkers, who can respond spontaneously to solve different problems.
“We all love bananas and chocolate and what better way to engage our children in learning about the ‘bitter truth’ of the chocolate industry and the ethics behind the banana industry – all while collaborating with each other."
Mrs Langford, Deputy Head - Academic
Banana and chocolate themed treasure hunts
The children searched the grounds high and low in a fun, interactive banana and chocolate quiz. The Pre-Prep teamed up with the Prep School for the fact finding mission!
“Working in mixed age group teams, pupils learnt about how bananas and chocolate are grown and shipped through an orienteering style treasure hunt."
Mrs Langford, Deputy Head - Academic
