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Helen O’Sullivan (Good Life Schools Community Engagement Lead for South Wales) visited the Cyfarthfa High School, in Merthyr Tydfil to meet their Good Life Schools Group. Here she writes about attending with award-winning filmmaker Natasha Hawthornthwaite, who was filming for a Good Life School documentary she is creating.

"Cyfarthfa High School, in Merthyr Tydfil is an English medium secondary school which has become a Good Life School, and has 30 students across Year 7-11 forming their Good Life Group. The school is keen to increase their involvement with the local authority’s Community Focused School initiative that aims to strengthen and support relationships between schools and those from the wider community such as business, practitioners and organisations.

Cyfarthfa High School’s work as a Good Life School aims to nurture this connection through their lead contact Leanne Drew, the Community Focussed Schools Manager at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, and a Good Life School council partner.

Upon arrival, Natasha and I were immediately greeted by a very keen amateur filmmaker and gardener called Reuben from Year 8. He was excited to learn about what we were doing and offered to speak about his journey on the GLS programme. He confidently spoke on camera about what he has learned about mass consumption and advertising, expressing his frustrations on the constant exposure to adverts through social media and how it “does my head in” (Reuben, Year 8).

During the session, the group were learning about the sources of various materials within products from jewellery to phones and medication to fashion garments, led by their Science teacher Mrs Richards. They explored whether these materials are grown or mined, and whether they think these can biodegrade or cause environmental pollutants. They also explored how and where these products are made.

Next, they explored these findings in greater detail undertaking a research activity based on a linear model of consumption: Take, Make, Use & Waste and how these link to advertising. Many students were also able to make the connection between low-income countries (LIC’s - the makers) and high-income countries (HIC’s - the users), leading to discussions around the exploitation of labour and resources.

Some students were tasked with finding out more about phones, while others had clothes or accessories. Students made notes based on their research task in their individual Good Life Journals.

Meanwhile, students were being interviewed by filmmaker Natasha about their work and what they have learned so far. They discussed everything from advertising, consumption but also the impact of peer pressure and bullying:

“I do think that we should not consume as much as we are and there should be less, you know, shaming of having something that's about 5 years old” (Reuben).

Not long after this, Reuben took the lead from Natasha and soon switched from interviewee to interviewer, asking many of his GLS Group peers about what they think of advertising, mass consumption and anti-consumption. Students discussed a range of topics and offered advice to those who will watch the documentary such as:

“Just buy stuff you need, you can also get stuff you want, but don’t waste it”

Comments such as these demonstrate the young peoples understanding that sometimes we still want to buy things, and that’s ok. But having learned about how many resources go into our products and how much pollution this can cause, it’s important that all of this is not wasted and we must therefore try to use our things for as long as possible.

They were asked what they think about consumerism, with one student saying it is

“a waste of materials and space which we could be using for more environmentally friendly things” (Sophia),

and also what they think about anti-consumerism:

“I feel like people are doing the right thing to stop buying stuff that they don't need and just buying like necessities and essentials” (Nia)

Finally, they discussed the complexities of currently living in a consumerism society and asked about what would happen if everyone stopped buying stuff:

“It'd be a positive impact for consumers and kind of end people stop buying products they don't need” (Martha).

But they also identified how this could cause problems and people opposing or protesting against anti-consumerism if it was forced on society.

While the challenges of navigating a consumer-driven society are complex, these young students from Cyfarthfa High School are already making impressive progress in their Good Life School journey. They are beginning to think critically about the messages and advertisements they face each day and unpacking the true meaning of consumerism and how it affects both themselves and the environment. 

This filming opportunity gave the students the opportunity to communicate with each other in a relaxed but reflective way, while also building confidence and group morale. This highlights the potential of the Good Life Schools programme to shape more conscious and thoughtful individuals who are ready to question norms and seek a deeper sense of wellbeing, both for themselves and the planet. 

For more information about Good Life Schools, visit: https://www.transform-our-world.org/good-life-schools