World Earth Day

Yesterday was World Earth Day 2021 when, all around the world, adults and children joined together to continue to drive meaningful action for our planet, highlighting important issues surrounding climate change, plastic and pollution, conservation and restoration.

As educators and parents we are important leaders for our children in raising awareness so that our young people are able to contribute to the global crisis which we have on our planet.

We have only been back at school for three days and as I have visited the school sites I am always filled with pride as I observe how aware and appreciative of our environment the children are and how they enjoy opportunities to learn more about nature and the impact they can have upon our planet’s future.

Our new Eco-reps are being selected this week; they will be our ambassadors to continue the work of the school in maintaining our Eco-School status. We are encouraging our pupils to participate in the competition launched by Hillingdon Council to demonstrate their understanding of Climate Change and I look forward to hearing of the entries. Every day your children have discussions, make observations and also take action on some of the issues which Earth Day highlights.

Nursery pupils were being nature detectives this week and were collecting data on all the creatures they were spotting using their amazing binoculars (which they had designed and made!).  At Upper School, children thanked Mr. Rizzo for the work he had done over the holidays in continuing to develop our Zen Garden and Maxwell Garden areas and the children are eager to start planting with the Gardening Club. 

We all have a corporate social responsibility to take action and I am sure that in your own workplaces there are action plans and policies in place. This week at school the staff have been involved with one aspect of reviewing our school operations to ensure that we are as sustainable as possible and we are auditing our use of printing devices - this is an example of just one small aspect of our whole school commitment to being eco-friendly.

Those of you with younger children may wish to take a look at some of the research linked here as to the benefits of the natural environment and environmental education on toddlers. 

Having two of our members of staff as Climate Change Teachers and with our commitment to sustainability, we will continue to work with staff, parents and pupils to review our curriculum and co-curriculum to ensure that we are playing our part in preparing your children for their future with a focus on Planet Earth. 

There is an exciting learning journey ahead for us all to further develop our knowledge and behaviours to support the work of Earth Day.

Mrs. Drummond