As a school, one of our three core values is a commitment to sustainability and carrying out actions that will benefit not only the school’s environment but also the local community. We are a non-selective and inclusive private school, and so we have genuine care and passion for the communities that are pupils come from.
In order to highlight this, we took part in The Climate Coalition’s The Great Big Green Week 2022 where the entire school took part in a range of learning and out of school activities to help raise awareness for The Great Big Green Week 2022. Here is a bit more on what we all got up to:
- What is The Great Big Green Week 2022?
- Kings Monkton Activities
- Our Sustainability Commitment
1. What is The Great Big Green Week 2022?
If you did not know already, The Great Big Green Week was first set up by the charity The Climate Coalition in 2021 and was one of the largest climate and sustainability events ever seen in the UK with over 5,000 community-led events.
The aim of The Great Big Green Week 2022 is to get people across the country to celebrate the actions of those who fight every day to support our planet and climate change. The sense of community is truly unmatched and provides an opportunity to raise awareness of our current climate crisis and teach others about the actions they could be taking to help the cause.
Although last year was The Climate Coalition’s first year of running The Great Big Green Week, that did not stop them from making a large impact. National organisations, institutions, businesses, and media outlets alike all joined together to get people involved and help with asking the UK Government to put more effort into its sustainability action plan. 2021 also saw some fantastic events and activities, such as bat walks and bake offs, festivals, football matches, school assemblies, and much more; all these were put on by local communities and their members, such as teachers, sports clubs, climate groups and artists. It is amazing what we can do when we work together!
And now, more than ever, we all need to do what we can to raise awareness not just for The Great Big Green Week 2022, but what it stands for. A recent study from the IPCC found that climate change is having a must faster impact on the planet than initially expected. In turn, more than 40% of the world’s population lives in places that are “highly vulnerable to climate change”. The time to act is now, and this is why it is very important to us here at Kings Monkton to act on our core value of sustainability and ensure that our pupils become well-rounded individuals who have the capabilities to be responsible community members and leaders.
2. Kings Monkton Activities
We had quite the busy week from the 24th of September to the 2nd of October here at Kings Monkton; as part of The Great Big Green Week 2022 we ensured all our pupils throughout the school were involved in activities and class trips that taught the importance of The Great Big Green Week 2022 and how we can all do our part to help aid climate change for the better.
Years 1 and 2
What better way to get the younger ones thinking about our planet and the amazing things it contains than taking them on a Minibeast Safari? As part of the RSPB’s Minibeast Safari challenge, we took Years 1 and 2 out on a scavenger hunt around our school grounds to see what creatures they could find as part of our school’s biodiversity; we have a number of bug and bird boxes set up around the school grounds so Years 1 and 2 were bound to find some creepy crawlies, and they did not disappoint.
The pupils ticked off a wide range of creatures from their checklist which allowed them to identify a variety of animals and insects. This activity then prompted the pupils to think about how climate change is affecting the extinction levels of certain species across the world and how this is in part due to climate change. We then looked at ways in which we can help offset this by creating our own bug and bird boxes at home and helping increase the safe areas for these creatures to live.
Year 3
Year 3 also got involved in observing our school’s biodiversity by making potato traps; this a simple and easy activity which can be replicated at home to see your garden’s eco system. Simply bake a potato and cut it lengthways, then lay them cut side down in damp soil and leave them there for at least 24 hours. Once you return, use a cocktail stick to dig away at the potato and see if any bugs have been eating away at the delicious meal you left out for them.
Again, this got the pupils to think about nature and how climate change is having a big impact on our eco systems, and we looked into more ways that we could raise awareness and help increase animal and insect populations.
Years 5 and 6
A school trip is always a highlight for pupils, and Years 5 and 6 were certainly in for a treat when they got to visit Viridor Energy Reclamation Plant which is the largest energy recovery facility in Wales and diverts about 95% of South Wales’ residual waste away from landfill and generates 250GWh of electricity for the National Grid.
On the trip, pupils learnt the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling and how Viridor recovers energy from non-recyclable waste as a source of green energy. The pupils had a great deal of fun while also learning about important scientific processes and innovations, something they might be able to contribute to in the future as more green processes are always needed.
Years 7 and 8
Years 7 and 8 got involved with The Great Big Green Week 2022 activity ‘Letters to Tomorrow’ which involved writing a letter to a loved one in the future calling for political action on climate change. If climate change keeps progressing at its current level, it is only going to get worse for the next generation, and these letters will help to action the change we need.
The letters include the hopes for the future generation as well as the fears that come with our current uncertain times. These letters will then be sent to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition so the voices of the community can be heard and the topic of climate change will be on their agenda every day.
All Years
And finally, all of Kings Monkton got involved with The Great Big Green Week 2022 by contributing to a non-uniform day for the charity Just One Tree where donating just £1 plants one tree. To make the day even more impactful, we challenged our students to wear something second-hand and/or something green. From this non-uniform day we raised the grand total of £196.60 which will be donated to Just One Tree, that is 196 trees that will be planted thanks to our pupils.
We also put on a lunch time screening of David Attenborough’s “Climate Change – The Facts” so pupils could learn even more about the impact climate change is having on our planet and what we as a school community can do to help.
3. Our Sustainability Commitment
The Great Big Green Week 2022 has certainly provided us with a great deal of opportunities to have open discussions with our pupils about climate change, such as the consequences of not doing anything and what we can do to help stop it.
This summer, we created a new Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) so that we can continue to improve the eco system and biodiversity on our school grounds as well as adopt further sustainable processes. We are also looking into more ways we can get our pupils involved with the local community to create more green spaces and protect our wildlife, and our aim is for our pupils to learn these skills and utilise them in their own homes and communities to aid in reducing the effects of climate change and other harmful impacts on the environment and planet.
In other sustainability news, we are very proud to announce that the Independent Schools Association’s annual ISA Awards recognised Kings Monkton for their Excellence in Sustainability award where we were Highly Commended. This is a fantastic achievement as something that we would not have been able to have achieved without the dedicated help of all our pupils and staff – thank you for all your hard work and passion for the environment, it shows that together we can make a difference.
Want to find out more about our school, the different school years, our admissions and more? Please contact us on 02920 482 854. Remember, always be the best you can be.
