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Hi Grace,
I like your ideas for reducing energy consumption. The simple changes of switching off lights and cycling or carpooling to school could make a huge difference.
Climate change is having a huge impact in Ireland and in our own local area. We are experiencing many extreme weather events such as storms and flooding, higher and lower weather temperatures and huge rainfall. There is also a lot of coverage on climate change in the local media also so pupils are very aware of what is happening.
To engage pupils, we could carry out local environmental studies, we could organise a field trip and visit a local form or a flood affected area. We could also invite a guest speaker in to speak about the impact of climate change in the local area.
Three actions we could consider could be to create a school garden and outdoor classroom where pupils can learn about sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and the importance of green spaces. We could conduct an electricity audit and identify areas where the school could save energy and implement a plan to carry this out. We could run a campaign to reduce single plastic use in the school. We could carry out a survey to count how much plastic is being used in each class and then make a plan for every class to reduce their quantity. A prize could be given to the class that makes the best improvement.Hi Orla, I love this idea of a weekly swim and coffee morning. It sounds like a great opportunity for parents and children to form friendships and have a lovely time while doing so.
Red Cross work in my area with Ukrainians who have came to Ireland since the war broke out. We have many children in our school who have came from Ukraine. The Red Cross has helped them access accommodation and supported them in integrating into the local communities. Our school and community have taken many actions to help all families feel very welcome and integrate into our school communities. We have English classes in the evenings for parents to come along to. We have translated all of our newsletters and any information into Ukrainian. We have set up a buddy programme where children are buddied up and helped throughout the day. We had a whole school gathering to welcome the new students and their families and we hosted a bake sale to include everybody and to allow parents and children to mix together to build up relationships with each other. We also have many other students from other countries and we ask all pupils to share information about their culture and we held a cultural day where every student could bring in food, dress in their traditional dress and showcase any talents.
I think writing letters to the local TDs would be a great idea and a great activity for children to undertake. I also like your idea of liaising with charities like SVP and Peter McVerry Trust.
The topic I chose relating to Sustainable Development Goals was Climate Action as I think children can relate and understand this. We, in Ireland, are experiencing more extreme weather events such as frequent storms, flooding and much warmer temperatures during summer. In other countries, this can be much worse. Children are more tuned into the weather especially as sometimes they get a day off school as the weather is so extreme. Climate is an important topic that needs to be integrated into the curriculum. There are many ways to do so. Schools could make their own weather station and record weather in many different ways. They could also carry out projects on weather across the world and how weather events impact on the different countries. To improve sustainability in the school, pupils could create a school garden, reduce waste, encourage recycling and run some competitions to reduce single use plastic in schools.
Hi Orla, this is very interesting regarding sport, I too have noticed that the boys are usually interested in football and not too many girls join in, although this does seem to be changing. I have seen this from a very young age. Hopefully using some of the development education methodologies will change these stereotypes.
Gender stereotypes can affect students from a very young age, shaping their perceptions of themselves and their peers. These stereotypes can start at home and they can further develop in early years in school. I have seen first hand this happen while doing Aistear. Girls gravitate towards the dolls whereas the boys gravitate towards the cars, lorries, diggers, etc. The boys don’t want to play with the dolls as they see them as being ‘girls’ toys’ and vice versa for the boys. This isn’t the case with all pupils, I have just witnessed it with a few. Introducing development education in Junior Infants would be a brilliant idea and it may have a very positive effect on gender stereotypes. It might change what some children consider the ‘norm’ and give them more choice in their play which in turn would make their own experience more entertaining and more inclusive for everybody.
Hi Catherine, I really like your idea of the debating competition. I think it would be a great way to involve the children in an engaging and meaningful way while having fun debating with their peers. I wasn’t aware Concern had a competition. It is something I look forward to learning more about in September.
Ehigie’s (2021) paper, “The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World,” explores the importance of global citizenship in creating a sustainable global community. It encourages humans to understand and consider global issues and to engage in sustainable practices for the greater good of the world.
Development Education (DE) is so important in today’s everchanging world as it provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to tackle global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change. It encourages children to critically think, to become more empathetic and to be aware of all of the different cultures in the world.
I would integrate DE into my lessons by adding discussions on climate change in science lessons, human rights lessons in SPHE, multicultural days where children get the opportunity to educate their peers on their own culture. I would study different countries in Geography and create projects and presentations on various countries.
I would organize a Croke Park hour on DE to encourage collaborative planning and to create some DE resources among my colleagues. I would invite a guest speaker in to give us more information also.I agree that the EO Browser is like a window to the Earth from space. I think it is a fantastic resource that children would love using. I look forward to using it with my class in September.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hi Padraic. I think using a quiz is a fun way to gauge prior knowledge. Also allowing pupils to do their own research would be very enjoyable for the children. It sounds like a great lesson.</p>
Hi Valerie, this is a very interesting question and one I think children would be very interested in exploring more. They would love visiting the beaches and making their own observations. I also like the way you would bring in the satellite imagery also. A guest speaker would be very informative also.
How can as a school community reduce our carbon footprint?
I will direct pupils to the How Big Is Your Environmental Footprint Questionnaire online and ask pupils to complete the questionnaire as honestly as they can. We will discuss findings. There are many ways and areas we can focus on to try and reduce our carbon footprint but we will pick one to focus on for the year. We will focus on reducing the amount of plastic in lunchboxes. We have found in our school that we have a problem with the amount of plastic that is in our bins at the end of the day, majority being from lunches, fruit juice cartons, yogurt pots, lunches wrapped in cling film. We will appoint some students as monitors who can visit each class and count the amount of plastic in lunchboxes. Figures will be recorded and we will run a campaign around school to try and encourage pupils to reduce amounts. Pupils could run a poster competition, prizes for most improved class, etc. Ideas will be given to pupils and an ‘idea sheet’ could be sent home to parents. Reusable bottles, reuse cling film or else use paper, buy big yogurt pots and send in small class jars, etc.
After a month, monitors will visit classes, record figures again and see are there improvements. Continue the campaign and hopefully it was also encourage changes at home also which in turn will have a positive effect on reducing our carbon footprint not only in school but at home.3. Nose High Up In The Sky is a great resource that I definitely intend on using with my class in September. I think they will find this resource fun and interesting. Children will love seeing the photographs of Earth taken from Space. I think it is a great way to start the lesson. The visual resources included are great and the activity of matching the photos to the different landscapes take from the ground will be interesting. The third activity then of learning about how a satellite works and how it is different to a space station will allow for some interesting discussions in the class. It is a great lesson as it provides children with the opportunity to see different perspectives which they usually wouldn’t get to experience in other lessons. It is a great resource to get children interested in delving deeper into the topic and hopefully doing some further research.