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Climate change is evident and affecting in the locality through flooding and excessive rainfall, long spells of low temperatures in the winter months, poor grass growth, longer periods of heat spells in the summer months. Pupils can be invited to reflect on local climate change by recording weather patterns in the school environment, this can be done by recording weather with weather and temperature charts and examining the influence of weather and climate on the school’s ecosystem. We all can play a part in slowing climate change. I will continue to implement sustainable changes including walking or cycling instead of using the car; instead of buying new, looking at the options of buying second-hand or used and continuing to reduce, reuse and recycle. Examining SDGs in schools and implementing the Green Schools programme in a meaningful way are important to promoting changes for pupils as helpful to stopping the advancement of climate change.
The local community and resource centre is a great resource for refugee families who are availing of accommodation in the locality, and it provides access to housing support and legal advice along with further adult education opportunities. Establishing a buddy system in a classroom whereby pupils are paired with refugee pupils to help them to make friends and to become familiar with the classroom and school environment, and it gives the pupils more confidence in improving their language skills.
International days are a great way to welcome all families into the school community in a friendly and informal setting. All family members are invited to be part of the day and this helps build relationships and makes newcomers feel valued and accepted.
Schools can also review their policies to ensure that all pupils have access to resources and supports to help them reach their potential in school and that there are no barriers to education.I agree Seamus, providing EAL classes gives pupils the opportunity to practice their new language in a setting that may be less intimidating for them than a classroom setting and gives them a greater chance to participate fully in their classroom.
Your ideas for promoting SDG3 and wellbeing are great Fiona, using movement breaks and promoting good breathing and calming techniques all help pupil mental health.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that I think can be most affecting for pupils is Goal 13: Climate Action. Climate change is of relevance to pupils at both a local and global level. The UN states that every person, in every country in every continent will be impacted in some shape or form by climate change and pupils in our schools can be considered as being impacted by climate change. In the locality this can take the form of air pollution particularly when a school is in an urban setting and this is particularly affecting to pupils with any underlying health conditions, but also to all pupils as a factor that can affect physical and mental health. Global warming is affecting to pupils as they witness rising temperatures and harsher winters. Participating in school wide initiatives to promote sustainability and lower emissions e.g. sustainable transport to school including walking and cycling encourages pupils to support SDGs.
I agree that referring to how footballers cry is a good way to make pupils see that crying isn’t specific to either girls or boys. Ensuring that inclusive language is embedded in a school is also helpful to ensuring that all pupils are equal.
Gender stereotypes are often well established by the time pupils begin junior infants. This has been evident to me during Aistear when pupils at play will align with the toys and stationery that have been designated to them; girls will play with dolls and teddy bears whilst the boys will lean towards cars and trucks. Pupils can in turn point out that others are playing with a toy that they shouldn’t be playing with, meaning that the colour etc. doesn’t suit their gender. From what I have seen, I think boys can come under more pressure than girls to play with toys that are seen as specific to them. Schools have the opportunity to explore gender and challenging stereotypes through development education and allow pupils the opportunity to express themselves and afford them chances to play with different toys and toys and stationery that are in a range of colours.
‘The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World’ (2021) explores the importance of global citizenship in establishing a more equitable and sustainable world. It refers to how the world’s citizens are essential to addressing the global challenges of climate change, inequality, and human rights abuses. The paper places a lot of emphasis on the role of education in developing global citizens who are informed, empathetic, and proactive in contributing to positive global change.
Development Education is necessary for preparing pupils to be informed, empathetic, and proactive citizens of the world. By including development education into several areas in the curriculum, schools can effectively promote global citizenship. This is particularly relevant in geography and science and the school’s Green Schools programme. Professional development is important alongside teacher collaboration and will further embed development education into the school’s culture, ensuring that pupils are equipped with the knowledge of addressing the issues of sustainability and justice.I like the idea of implementing a campaign Laura where pupils can make a whole school effort to reduce their carbon footprint. By recording plastic in lunchboxes, pupils can learn about alternatives and monitoring results over a month will hopefully lead to positive change.
The class is invited to discuss what weather is and and how they experience different types of weather and how this affects them (extra clothing needed, sun protection in summer etc.)
Relate the questions on weather to the school garden and how different weather from day to day affects the garden along with seasonal changes in weather.
There is great potential for interactive learning and to make garden observations and record changes that are seen. A weather chart in the classroom is effective for recording daily weather conditions. They can compare the changes in weather with changes in the garden. Pupils will learn about a local ecosystem by observing birds, animals and insects in the garden and how the weather affects their presence there. Pupils can be shown videos like HOME that show how weather affects plants and animals. Pupils learn how to take responsibility for how they can behave to have a positive impact on the local environment.Five satellites that have passed over Ireland recently include, Sentinel-2A, Terra (EOS AM-1), NOAA-20 (JPSS-1), Aqua and Landsat 8. They observe the planet and are used in communication, navigation and scientific research. Sentinel-2A, Terra, Aqua and Landsat 8 are primarily for earth observation and NoAA-20 is used for weather monitoring. Sentinel-2A is part of the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Programme and captures imagery used for land monitoring that provides information on land cover, vegetation, and water bodies. Terra is a NASA satellite and monitors climate and the environment. NOAA-20 provides data for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and environmental observations. Aqua is also a NASA satellite and studies the Earth’s water cycle. Its findings contribute to understanding climate change and in meteorology for predicting weather and climate patterns. Landsat 8 monitors land use and the impact of natural disasters. It provides data that is relevant to agriculture, forestry and water management.
I agree Emma that it may be a good idea to show specific parts of the film instead of showing the whole film, especially for younger classes. I also like your ideas about pupils focusing on the positive things that they are doing, this will help to motivate them to do more.
HOME is a very impactful movie for teaching pupils about climate change. It moves between showing the beauty of the planet earth whilst also showing the damage that has been caused by humans over exploiting natural resources. Pupils learn about the importance of protecting the environment from the damage that is highlighted in the film. It shows different ecosystems that exist which help pupils to see that everyone is connected in a shared global environment. I think the most impactful message in the film is that there is an urgency to climate change and the time for action is now and that people of all ages including the pupils themselves have a part to play in effecting change. This can lead to think pair share discussions in a classroom, where pupils can relate the idea of bringing meaningful change in the school environment. This can be linked to the school’s Green Schools plan and activities.
The Paxi video is a great resource for starting a classroom conversation on the causes and effects of greenhouse gases. It is a very pupil friendly resource and explains greenhouse gases in a relatable way to younger classes. It allows pupils to see the ways that they can make small but meaningful contributions to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases and maintains a positive outlook for pupils, as given the pressing uncertainty and worry about climate change through the media, it allows children to see that they can play their part and have a meaningful impact, especially when working in a class or school community. The temperature predictor is a great resource to implement, and pupils can examine temperatures in the local area and predict future temperatures. In being enabled to predict future temperatures, a class can see the impact of society on weather but also how they can be empowered to influence and change this.
The paper, Unravelling STEM: Beyond the acronym of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Liston 2018), refers to the design process for STEM lessons and activities, which include research, planning and designing, communicating and testing and evaluating. Inquiry based learning and experimenting is central to these lessons. I like to place an emphasis on inquiry-based learning in my classroom and pupils are encouraged to be innovative and think critically. The paper shows how STEM can be used in multi-curricular areas. I especially like the ESA resource ‘Weather v Climate’. This gives the pupils the opportunity to set up their own classroom weather station. The class can be divided into groups and explore and record their data, this could be integrated in a Maths lesson, and findings. The pupils learn the difference between climate and weather from the lessons and their data. The class can explore the weather and climate findings in other countries.