TEACHERS from across Wokingham borough came together earlier this month to discuss climate change.
The first Climate Teachers Summit, hosted by Wokingham Borough Council, was held at Holme Grange School on Friday, July 8.
Delegates from 15 schools shared their own ideas, worked together to look at how climate can be brought into the wider curriculum and got information from a range of local services.
Exhibits were displayed by The Tree Project, Freely Fruity, Public Health, the council’s UNICEF UK child friendly communities programme and My Journey Wokingham, who brought along their smoothie bike.
Cllr Sarah Kerr, executive member for climate emergency and resident services, opened the event.
“We know that the climate emergency affects everybody and that we have a collective responsibility to make changes, both big and small, for the sake of our future,” said CllrKerr.
“Working with teachers is an effective and crucial way to make sure that our schools are working to reduce their own carbon footprint.
“It also means that children and young people are equipped with the knowledge and feel empowered to make sustainable choices in their own lives.”
Attendees brainstormed the government’s new strategy for sustainability and climate change in education and discussed how it can present opportunities to embed the subjects into learning.
Ideas generated included teaching children and parents repair skills, reducing food waste, facilitating distribution of pre-loved uniforms and using sustainable suppliers.
The learning is set to continue, with a newly created Climate Teachers Forum, facilitated by the council open to all schools in the borough.
One of the borough’s schools has already been recognised for its efforts on climate change.
Holme Grange School is the first in the world to be awarded gold for their teaching on environmental issues by eduCCate Global, an organisation that trains and supports teachers and schools to embed climate education.
The school was awarded this after introducing a whole school policy and working with other schools in the area.
They also developed a sustainability curriculum, which all Year 9 students take part in, with topics including climate literacy, fast fashion, sustainable cooking and climate science.
Another school proactively encouraging change is Shinfield St Mary’s Primary School.
Matt Knight, sustainability and ecology lead at the school, said it has “transformed” its outside space into an eco-space.
This includes fruit tree nursery to distribute to other schools, habitats for wildlife, various beds to grow fruit and vegetables and sustainable structures such as a biodome.
