Across the world, people of all ages and from various backgrounds have participated in activities and discussions related to the all-important COP26 summit in Glasgow. Here at OHS, our students & staff have taken part in their own environmental programme in accordance with the summit.
For the past two weeks, students have been able to attend lunchtime discussions about various aspects of climate change. These sessions launched with an introductory presentation on COP26, followed by a fascinating documentary by David Attenborough – Climate Change: The Facts – which looked at the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat. From then onwards, there has been a selection of interesting and striking talks from the ‘Transform Our World Youth Summit’, which included (to name a few):
- A Dragon’s Den-style event which saw Action for Conservation groups of students across the UK present social action projects they have been doing
- A careers session discussing what green jobs are out there, and how young people can focus their skills and experiences to get to where they want to be
- A discussion with Alice Tebb, from the Marine Conservation Society, about how to bring about positive change at wider community-levels. Students learnt how to better understand their wider local community and work together effectively to uncover solutions that enable positive change, reaching out beyond the boundary of school
- Delivered by Lola from Ecolola Sustainability Ltd, students were able to attend an intriguing talk that explored intersectionality in the context of environmentalism. Lola discussed how intersectionality is vital to environmental activism as we must be aware of how environmental issues affect people across the world, and across the identity spectrum, if we want solid change.
During the past few weeks, our Year 12 Art & Textiles students, along with pupils from The Cherwell School and St Clare’s, Oxford, have participated in a sustainable fashion project hosted by Kim Polgreen (who was a speaker at our Sustainable Fashion Conference earlier this academic year), Low Carbon Oxford North, and Oxfam. Click here to read more about it!
Our Geography HUMSOC ambassadors, Hannah and Lizzie in Year 13, have shared a list of amazing environmental films and TV shows – click here to view the list. They also introduced us to Waterbear, a free online streaming platform dedicated to environmental films. It’s definitely worth exploring these options when you’re stuck on ideas for movie night!
In the October half-term, Yumna in Year 9 was invited by the Prime Minister to a COP26 reception and cultural show at Number 10 Downing street for her winning entry in the Creative Earth Competition! Feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness, there she saw her artwork showcased on an easel for all invitees and Boris Johnson to see. Yumna had the opportunity to explain her painting, sharing her vision and message of what Earth’s future should be like and how we can achieve it. The Prime Minister even had discussions with Yumna about the different aspects of her painting! After a motivating speech from Boris Johnson about the urgency to act now, there was a gripping cultural show performed at Number 9 which highlighted how our Earth is beautiful but fragile.
“The whole experience has made me even more passionate about protecting our precious Earth. It is not just about getting the message out there, but also action. I think it is so important to work together to make the change needed!” – Yumna (Year 9)
