Every year on 22nd April, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement since it began in 1970. To mark the event, we hosted a range of activities across the School. Below is a snapshot of some of the highlights.

Headmaster's Senior School Assembly

In his assembly to the Senior School, Mr Punt addressed the opportunities for innovative thinking, science and people working together to make things better for our planet - so that we reduce pollution, global warming and damage to the natural environment. Read more in his Earth Day 2021 blog.

Form Group Discussions; Supply and Demand

Mr Wright's Year 8 form group debated the topic of one’s impact on the ecosystem and welfare of planet.

"Pupils were engaged, reflective and very much switched on when it comes to consumer habits, the 'want' vs 'need' dilemma and the impact of our own carbon footprint. The recent issue of the European Super League also provided us a chance to question why this was conceived, asking if mass consumerism, or as National Geographic puts it, the 1.7 billion who make up the ‘consumer class’ in the world is now having a negative impact on our environment and our need to have more." Mr Wright - 08W Tutor, Teacher of Music, Drama & Games

Junior School

In the the Junior School, the library hosted a display of relevant books and encouraged reading on the topic (see gallery below) and Mr Stubbs presented a special assembly. In his interactive assembly, the children came up with ideas about what they could do.

"What was clear from talking to the children is that we know what we must do. Everyone also has a duty and responsibility to make changes in their own lives that can make a difference and the worst consequences of climate change can be stopped by millions of small changes by individual people." Mr Andrew Stubbs, Head of Junior School

In Year 5, Mrs Thurtle's class looked at how we can personally reduce our carbon footprints (see image in the gallery below) and took part in mindfulness colouring.

'Jour de la Terre'

Mrs Bird's Year 3 and Year 4 French classes discussed what activities were happening in France for Earth Day. Mrs Bird presented the children with simple vocabulary relating to Earth Day in French and they discussed what small steps one could take to help the planet. Together, they then went over these steps in French, forming basic sentences and identifying key words.

She then showed the pupils a thought-provoking promotional video in French about animals finding our rubbish lying around and picking it up. In particular, they talked particularly about Covid-19 masks being left lying on the ground! (take a moment to watch the video).

Similarly, in the Pre Prep, Mrs Bird discuss taking care of the Earth with pupils. They coloured in pictures of the planet (view in the gallery below) and wrote some key words in French such as - J'aime la Terre and Jour de la Terre. They also discussed what French school children were doing for Earth Day in France.

Lights Off!

Students and staff may have noticed it was a little darker in the dining room, with Chartwells turning off the lights for the lunch service. Chartwells and the School are committed to ensuring our supply chain is as efficient and sustainable as possible amongst many other responsibilities.

Read more about Earth Day at www.earthday.org

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