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The Sustainable Development Goal I would focus on would be climate change. We learned in our local area that climate change is real, and can affect us in the locality and not just internationally. We would focus primarily on the weather and how it had changed on a local level (Priority Action Area 5: Accelerating Local Action) and research how. We will look at the increase in storms in Ireland, how it impacts their education, schools closing, loss of electricity/water. We will look at ways to prevent the destruction of houses, planning permissions, building on flood plains etc.
We will research all of this in our locality and discuss how we can make changes locally. We will look at Greta Thunberg, and look back at the clips from the news when students took to the streets to protest on the inaction of governments on climate change. We are a primary school, we will brain storm as to how we can make a difference. The changed we can make closer to home, recycling, reducing the use of electricity, park and stride, walking to school, fast fashion etc. We will revisit our Green Flag, and research if there are any other initiatives that we can do to earn any more flags for the school.
I will be encouraging the children to explain to their parents that we are Global Citizens and we make changes that can affect us all.
I agree with all 3 of your ways of attempting to slow down climate change. I did not think of energy consumption. We are always careful to turn off the light at home, but by teaching a lesson on this, we could educate other families to do the same.
Climate change has severely impacted our local area. Last year, there was a flash flood in the town and 70 houses had to be evacuated. The river burst its bank, something that had not happened in 50 years. There was extensive damage done to homes and businesses. The local people all came together to help, and donations were made to help people repair the damage to their properties and replace their belongings. The sad thing about it is, there is no way of telling if this will happen again and homes will most likely not be insured for future events.
The 3 things I could do to help prevent climate change is to continue to recycle to the best of our ability. To separate plastics, glass and organic from rubbish and to minimise the black bin. I will also do my best to reuse and donate clothing. I will swap my children’s clothes with friends and we can share clothes between families. Anything we don’t use, we will donate to shelters and charities. We will not buy poor quality cheap clothing that does not last and can easily be ruined. Lastly, I will educate my own children and the children in my school on the importance of biodiversity. I will share with them my knowledge of the importance of pollinators and their role in nature. I will teach them about the impact of climate change on the creatures on the planet.
I will teach the pupils lessons on the above ways to help prevent climate change. We will continue to revisit the importance of recycling and revise how to use the bins in school. We will research fast fashion and the landfills the clothes end up in. We will also research our local wildlife and how the current crisis is impacting it.Tralee International Resource Centre offers free classes and services to refugees in our region. Their work includes daily English language classes, family programmes (including summer programmes for children, school liaison etc), mental health programmes, music classes, one off classes and programmes, help with filling in forms, access to the internet and computers, International Friend’s Group and referrals and a drop in space.
Our school can help refugees by being in contact with the school liaison officer in the resource centre, ensuring that the children are in a safe environment and understanding the resources that we need as educators to ensure the pupils feel happy within the whole school environment. I feel it is important that contact is maintained for the good of the children, so that we can better understand where the children came from, the possible dangers or trauma they might have experienced and the learning progress they have made to date.
Most small towns in Ireland have Family Resource Centres that may have some resources available to refugees, however, from my research, it seems to be the larger towns that have the main supports advertised on line.I completely agree with you Olivia with regards the latest fads that the kids have these days. The availability of these collectable toys means that trends can change so quickly and kids just change their minds. It used to be before you either liked Cindy or Barbie, now there are way too many choices!
Yes I agree with your post, particularly when it comes to role play in jobs. The teacher in schools was seen for a long time as the female role, however there is a significant rise in male teachers in schools, which is great to see also! Gender balance needs to be seen to be believed , and when children see a balance in the everyday workforce, it becomes the norm in play.
I have taught in an all boys school for nearly 20 years. I have seen gender stereotype quite regularly throughout my career, particularly when it comes to involvement in sports. However, there has been a change in recent years.
When I first started, it was a very “sporty” school. There didn’t seem to be many extra curricular activities available for boys, both in school and the locality, other than GAA and soccer. However, now we have chess clubs, art clubs, STEM clubs, and the perception that all boys should like sports is gone. Most boys enjoy singing in choir and see these as a strength and not a weakness to be involved in the arts. We have a cross over of boys who enjoy all activities across the board. It’s very encouraging to see the boys flourish and be themselves without the worry of gender stereotypes.
In SSE, it would be important to gather the evidence from sources to share with the children. I would, of course, take action that would lead to improved learning for the children when we learn about gender equality.
I love your idea of connecting with other schools abroad. With the introduction of the teaching of foreign languages, it would be interesting for the pupils to find out the countries were French, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken, besides the obvious!
The Role of the Global Citizen In Today’s World was an interesting and thought provoking piece of writing. In one way, it celebrates how far we have come in identifying racism and calling it out. However, on the other hand, we have ways to go yet with acceptance. Quoting Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King was an excellent introduction to the piece, as they are well known and historical figures when it comes to human rights. They were well respected in their time, and are still seen as revolutionary figures in history. I also respect that Ethigie gave an insight into his own background and his own experiences.
I was delighted when I read on, to read a quote from Daniel O’ Connell, that I hadn’t heard before with regards slavery in America. I have always respected The Liberator, and I was delighted to read that he was aware of the plight of the slaves in America. His compassion for all human kind is evident in his quote, that, as Darwin said, we are “cut from the same cloth”.
This leads us to the importance of education across the globe and the right to education for all. There is a feeling of empathy from Ethigie, I feel, for the white supremacists. Not that he feels sorry for them, but that they don’t fully understand what they are doing. It’s lack of knowledge, or appropriate knowledge, that leads to their racism and undesired ideologies. I found it very interesting that he called the “victims”, which I would agree they are.
I would share this piece with my colleagues with a view to emphasising the empathy the author feels in the writing. If sharing this with the higher classes, I would pre teach who Daniel O’ Connell, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King are. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
Apologies, I think I posted this in the wrong reply box! Reposting here:
Construct a sundial in your immediate area or plan for your school grounds to see where a sundial could be placed:
My class would absolutely love this lesson. I would start by teaching the history of sundials, the Ancient Egyptians and the Maya in Mexico. We would research these civilisations and related peoples and find out if there were any old sundials found in Ireland, if so, where and what is the oldest.
We would follow up by using a torch indoors. Looking at how shadows can be cast, making some shadow puppets on the walls and changing direction of the light source to show the difference it makes with our hands.
Finally, we would go outside. I would draw a circle (I have the perfect place in mind where there is concrete and we can use chalk). We would make a centre point and using a compass (pre teach north and south and how compass works) find south. We would start by using a simple stick in a flower pot to make the first shadow line and write the time with chalk. We would check the times over the duration of the day and repeat the exercise the following day to compare the lines and times.
Any time the kids get to leave the classroom for an activity is a bonus. The love to be out and active!
I didn’t think to include NASA photography as art, great idea! The pupils will thoroughly enjoy researching photography from space.
Consider how many Songs / Poems /Art can you think of to connect us with the Night Sky? For example: Look up President Michael D Higgins’ “Stardust”
In our school,we are big fans of Coldplay for the school choir, so Sky Full of Stars would be first on our list! When researching these, I would have to be sure that the lyrics are appropriate for primary school children first and foremost, as one can never be too careful these days! From Coldplay on, we would listen to Frank Sinatra, Fly Me To The Moon, Star Star by the Frames, and of course Space Oddity by David Bowie. Starlight by Muse would be enjoyable also. These are the songs I can think of that the children would enjoy the most with regards references to stars and space.
In poetry, I would ask if the pupils could think of any rhyme about stars, and of course reference Twinkle Twinkle. I would look at The Stars Stand Up In The Air, by Thomas MacDonagh. A poem about love and loss, and a poem that is easy to read and understand.
In art, the most obvious is to compare Van Gough and Munch in their depiction of the Starry Night. We would discuss light pollution and how this could be reflected in their paintings.I love the idea of a lights out night. We often do fundraisers with cinema nights in school, it could be done then with the older classes and a quick discussion before (or after) the movie. However, I would be fairly sure that one of my pupils would remind me that we are ,of course, contributing to the light pollution by having a movie night…..!
