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Upcycling is a great idea. It would be a lovely art project to take some older pieces of furniture and do some painting or decoupage to upcycle them. You could even do an exhibition which would get parents involved.
Our local area has many lakes. Our drinking water supply comes from one of the lakes as it is a fresh water spring lake. In recent years, we have had more and more hose pipe warnings and more boiled water notices and a visible drop in the level of the lake as the drain on resources increases. I think a lesson plan starting point could look at old pictures of the lake and the level it used to be at. We could talk about how you used to be able to use the diving boards at all times and how that has changed and why. We could audit our own water use – looking at all the ways we use water in our homes. We could look at the amount of water needed for production. Then we could brainstorm ways to reduce water consumption and also general consumption. One useful lesson is to use a sink with a plug to show how much water we waste if we leave the tap running when we brush our teeth. Its visually strong. We can pledge to turn off taps when brushing and even showers when shampooing. We do clothes swaps and uniform swaps and it is good to link this to how much water is used in the production of clothes as many children don’t realise how much water is used for this. Last year we started to really push for re-useable water bottles in school and we will continue this process again next year. These are practical tangible actions so children don’t feel overwhelmed by climate change but can do something themselves.
There is LAIT- the local authority integration team in Westmeath but to be honest, I know very little about this. Our school is a DEIS school and we have a very diverse school population. We get a good number of Ukrainian students. We have a number of supports that we employ which have evolved as we learn. We have an EAL teacher and IT support for students that arrive with no English language. Some students help with buddying and translation to help students settle in. We might have a couple of older students to help them navigate their way around the school or be a playground buddy especially at the start. A good portion of our students might not be refugees or migrants but they have moved with their families from another country and so they tend to be very supportive and understanding. We try let the students integrate in a low key manner. In the past (old management), they would be asked to introduce themselves, say a few words about their country etc and this was really unhelpful. Now we are much better at letting them settle in and support where support is needed.
Wow, that is some success story! Ye were obviously a very nurturing and supportive school community. That is a huge amount of trauma for any child to deal with. I hope they continue to get support in the coming years.
Hi Shane, that’s great to have that tangible link between the landscape they are growing up in and the issue of climate change. We are in an urban school and it can be difficult to get across the impact that farming communities are seeing first hand when it comes to unpredictable weather. Its more than an inconvenience, its a treat to livelihood and food production.
As a sixth class teacher I have looked more closely at SDG 12SDG 12, or Sustainable Development Goal 12, which focuses on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. The aims of this goal are to promote resource efficiency, reduce waste, and encourage sustainable lifestyles. This includes everything from reducing food waste and promoting sustainable procurement practices to shifting towards renewable energy and adopting circular economy principles. We have taken a number of approaches including looking at fast fashion and its effect on the environment. We have looked at where products are arriving from and the impact this has on workers there and workers here. We have organised clothes swaps, book swaps and uniform swaps as part of an effort to promote more sustainable consumer choices. They have been very popular and more importantly, student-led. Its part of a well-being approach to de-couple consumption from well-being and look at ways to be more pro-active in reducing waste.
I agree. Its great to get some good books that broaden perspectives on gender and gender equality. For some of our students they see little of this outside school so it is important what they see and hear and what messages we present at school.
Even though I teach at the more senior end of primary, I’ve seen how gender stereotypes can be deeply embedded in students from a young age. I remember an older teacher telling me that the boys just prefer certain toys and girls like others but in reality they are steered towards those choices from the start. By the time they start school, they are just gravitating towards what has been the norm for them. I try to include a lot of gender non specific games such as draughts and UNO that have general appeal. I also try to present career choices and role models that are more representative. Its difficult. Our text books need to work hard at greater presentation. I brought a friend to an art exhibition recently that featured two Irish female artists that were very successful and yet largely unknown or celebrated until recently. I see art work at school that looks at artists and its heavily skewed towards male artists. Children need to see more representation to challenge their world view.
It’s hard for any parent today to avoid the effects of gender stereotyping. Years ago we had less so I would have played with any toys my older brother got and wore hand-me-down clothing which was more often a lot more gender neutral to get more use out them. Now with children getting more toys and more fast fashion- this is much more strongly marketed to either girls or boys. I know parents who get very frustrated trying to buying clothes for girls that don’t have messages that reinforce certain stereotypes. This then permeates into education.
I teach in a mixed gender class and I teach a senior class. One area that I have see issues can be with dance classes occasionally, where boys can complain that they don’t want to be dancing as particularly from certain backgrounds, they feel it isn’t an activity that they are ‘allowed’ enjoy or that it is not considered masculine. Sometimes looking at role models or real world examples can help myth bust both for girls and boys. Development education lessons on gender help unpack that activities, colours, interests etc are just preferences and part of the package of who we are. I’ve integrated this with maths and data to look at how our interests are not as gender specific as people might think.
That’s interesting suggesting Santa bring a kitchen for the boys. I have an Uncle who does all the cooking and my cousins grew up with that being the norm. They got kitchens from Santa. Its what children see modelled in their environment.
I think this would be a great idea to organise a Croke Park hour. This is definitely something I’d consider doing. Especially if we could get a speaker to work with staff so we could organise a uniformed approach to topics across the school. A lot of staff would like to tackle some of the tougher topics of privilege and inequality but it can be challenging sometimes. We have pupils some coming as refugees themselves and it is how to be sensitive to that.
It is interesting reading this article in the context of today’s political landscape. The direction to row back on diversity and inclusion programmes coming from the US impacts us here. Just last month more than a quarter of large corporates cut their sponsorship of Dublin Pride. The language of exclusion has become more widespread with an increasing number of anti-immigrant protests. The author calls for us to “extend our solidarity to others and do as much as we can to uplift those around us. Behaviour which alienates, ostracises or isolates groups of people is an undesirable deviation from the truth of our commonality”. Students need the skills of critical thinking to help them navigate some of the unhelpful language and information/misinformation surrounding them.
In terms of School planning, this fits into Wellbeing and Inclusion. Our school has a emphasis on action. We follow the ethos of ‘Deeds not Words’ and encourage students to be active within our school community to support one another. Where we could improve is to bring the local to the global and look at how our school supports others outside this sphere, in something more meaningful than just Christmas or seasonal collections. We have a strong student council and I think its worth exploring where they might see action potentials, especially as we have a very globally diverse school population.I choose SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing as our school is looking at Wellbeing of our school population as part of our SSE Plan. Wellbeing is coming to the fore more often in how we engage with our students in our school. Our school is a DEIS school and we have looked at where the needs of our more vulnerable students lie. We have identified issues such as anger management concerns, lack of resilience and mental health concerns. Some of the children come from situations where addiction, adult mental health and domestic violence affect their lives. We are trying out different programme to help students such as Zones of Regulation to help students equip themselves with tools to manage challenging moods. At a global level, mental health is an issue that we could investigate more. I focus very strongly on health every year. I give simple weight bearing exercises as part of homework. We take part in run a mile every year. I try to introduce the children to sampling fruits and vegetables as part of encouraging them to eat a rainbow. The students also suggest ways of engaging in movement breaks and we also do relaxation techniques and belly breathing daily. Lust for life has a programme that is helpful for guided relaxation techniques.
I found your post really interesting. We have a similar issue with many lunches not eaten and generating so much food waste. I worked in countries where starvation and death from hunger is a real problem so it breaks my heart to see untouched lunches going directly into the bin. It is really hard to combat this. Its hard to get lunch options that are appealing and also healthy. I feel in the long run that this may not be the best solution to address healthy eating. I see a lot of children from eastern European countries whose lunch are small snack sized options of pasta, fruit etc. They are cheap options but healthy. I see other children arrive in with a chicken roll. I think school lunches are not setting up families with enough education around healthy eating. I acknowledge that not every family has the facilities to prepare lunches but education on cheap healthy food prep now would go a long way.
We have a school garden and it is a useful area for looking at lots of aspects of growing and how weather can impact on our garden. From weather we can start to look at climate and how it is changing over time. We have soil thermometers and rain gauges but I often start again with letting the class come up with their own design for rain gauges and test the effectiveness of different types. Gathering rainfall can be done during the data section of maths and recorded to show monthly averages. We can then look at historical data to show changes over decades. Our area has a local weather station so this fits in with my locality. Increased rainfall data can spark discussion on how that impacts growing here in Ireland. We can look at seasonal fruit and vegetables, buying locally grown fruit and vegetables and even start to link to fast fashion trends and the impact of buying cheap goods that include unnecessary airmiles. Another action is to run clothes swaps during the year including a uniform swap at the start and end of the school year. An info campaign around recycling and reusing for students, including bringing their own water bottle. We are also starting a campaign for students to bring in some plastics bottles to fundraise for water stations around the school. We also have started growing bee attracting flowers around our school to encourage pollinators. These are some simple actions at student level to help them feel empowered to contribute towards climate change solutions.
