Earth Day found pupils at independent schools in Hampshire setting aside lessons to take part in a wide range of green activities helping tackle climate change and protecting the natural environment.
Students of all ages at Highfield and Brookham schools joined in with the events, from the pre-prep children making mini-Earths and hanging them from nursery trees to year eight engineers designing and producing working wind turbines.
“Climate change is an incredibly serious issue that affects each and every one of us, and we all have a duty to do our bit,” said Phillip Evitt, headteacher at Highfield School.
“These are worrying times, but what gives me great heart for the future is the way in which the children at Highfield and Brookham have taken up the challenge with open minds and big hearts, with a real willingness and desire to make our world a better place.”
Other activities saw year two Brookham pupils turn used milk cartons into bird feeders, while students from years three and four made ‘nature jewellery’ from recyclable materials, as well as helping curb carbon dioxide levels by planting a silver birch tree.
Year five and six children put their heads together to consider methods of ridding plastic from our oceans, before heading outside to monitor bee activity.
Pupils from years seven and eight tried to put everything into perspective by creating a nature-centric timeline, running from environmental events of the past to what could be done to help restore the balance in the future.
Finally, children from all year groups staged a mock meeting of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the better to find nuances in matters surrounding climate change by debating the issue from a variety of global perspectives.
In related news: Earth Day brings London pupils out onto the streets
