On June 20th the Eco Leads for the Junior School enjoyed taking part in the GDST’s ‘We Are One’ Celebration Day, where they participated in a range of activities run by Wimbledon High School, including creating art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and orienteering.  The aim of the day was to build a community of strong leaders in environmental education and sustainability, and which enabled them to share a sense of purpose and passion amongst like-minded individuals. After the morning activities, the girls attended a seminar run by Thoughtbox, followed by an author visit from Cindy Forde, the author of Bright New World. All the GDST schools were involved in the project with 23 schools attending on the day.

 It was fantastic to see the collaboration between girls from the different schools as they were able to work with other students throughout the workshop and seminar. They were encouraged to break away from their own school and interact with girls they had never met before. One particular activity was that the girls analyzed the price of items and their tradeoffs (Fair Trade, Food Miles, Organic). Our Year 6 Eco Leads particularly enjoyed the element of being outdoors and we discussed how we could bring this into their own teaching and learning. They absolutely loved having art outside and hunting for small creatures. 

The girls had initially been learning about Climate Change through the Year 6 PSHCE curriculum, and this year we implemented the educational resources from Thoughtbox to further engage in the topic. The students loved these lessons and found that they came away with a more profound understanding of what they had learnt. Their favourite quote was, “It’s just one piece of plastic, said 7 billion people.” They found the content to be powerful and hopeful. 

After participating in the modules, the girls met with Jo Kean – their Thoughtbox mentor – to discuss the film project that they would be producing. The girls set up a meeting via Microsoft teams during one of their lunch times to discuss the content they had learnt about and how they could use it to produce a short film on climate change.  Each week, during the Summer term, the girls met with Mrs Cassar to create a storyboard, film and edit a film that promoted sustainable action at NHEHS. In the last days of filming, the girls interviewed other Eco Councillors and Ms Bevan to ensure that their points of view were powerful. Their overall intention was to create a film that illustrated hope for the future.  The girls were most excited to see Jo Kean in person at the Wimbledon event, as they had connected with her online. 

Our Junior girls said that they really enjoyed the whole experience. They enjoyed going on the trip with just the four of them, being able to be part of a Trust Wide initiative and really loved making the video, which you can view here.

All four Eco Leads have demonstrated how passionate they are about the environment in their own ways this year and this has enabled them to channel their passion. The girls were required to apply and interview for the role, and they were all chosen due to their enthusiasm and excitement about making real change at the school and for the environment. 

Looking ahead to 2023-24, Mrs Cassar will be taking up a new role as Eco Coordinator for Environment and Sustainability starting in September. She will be working closely with Mr Khan and other members of NHEHS’ SLT to bring more eco initiatives to life, particularly whole school activities. Asked about the focus for next year, Mrs Cassar said, “Energy and waste management will definitely be at the forefront, but I know how passionate the girls are about ecosystems and biodiversity that we may attempt to achieve change in these areas as well.” 

 The new Junior School building is an exciting opportunity for the girls to see sustainability at the forefront of our school’s architecture and we are excited to demonstrate how making sustainable choices in our purchases can mean a big change for the environment.