Earth Week

Primary students have celebrated Earth Week this week in the school thanks to the huge efforts of the Junior and Mini Changemakers, who have spent months planning this event in school.

Earth Week has been full of excitement and activity, which has created a wonderful buzz for the first week back after the Easter break. Many students have visited the forest this week, taking advantage of this habitat just on our doorstep and exploring the wildlife living there.

The auditorium has had many visitors this week – not only students and teachers but ostriches, elephants, springbok, zebra, baboons, wildebeest and crocodiles who have been visiting a waterhole in South Africa which has been on the screen via a live webcam for all to see. Lots of children have enjoyed reading stories about the earth and creatures in the animal kingdom, they have made creations such as theatres, snakes and unicorn horns in the junk modelling activity on Thursday and hundreds of seeds have been planted by students today which should have arrived home this afternoon.

Having celebrated many reasons why our planet is so wonderful and bountiful, students have also been asked to consider how the actions of the last few decades have had a devastating effect on our land and oceans; students have considered the impacts of polluting the oceans and deforestation as well as the melting ice caps and high levels of air pollution. The question of how we can live in a sustainable way which creates balance and reduces wastefulness without going back to the Dark Ages!

The Changemakers ask – what do you already do and what further steps can you take to help save our planet?

Lesley McDonald

Year 6 Amber Teacher