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Hi Orla,
I think the practical activities are a good way to encourage children to take action against different global issues. The children could be encouraged to come up with their own ideas for fundraisers.
Hi Catherine
I think the Welcome Garden is a wonderful idea. It could make the children feel welcome and included as they may have a role to play in sustaining the garden. This could make the children feel part of the school community.
Hi Kevin
I think choosing more sustainable transport like walking and cycling is a good idea to help combat climate change. This can be encouraged to staff and students who live in close proximity to the school.
Hi Sarah,
I agree with what your saying on how students don’t want to take on certain roles as I have seen this happen in my classroom. I think its a good idea to break these stereotypes through stories and whole class siscussions.
Living in Dublin, the effects of climate change are increasingly visible: heavier rainfall leading to localised flooding, more frequent storms, rising sea levels threatening coastal areas, and shifts in seasonal patterns. These changes impact our communities—especially vulnerable groups like the elderly, low-income families, and newcomers such as refugees who may already face housing challenges.
In my classroom, I would engage pupils by starting with local, lived experiences. We’d map climate impacts they’ve noticed in their area—flooded streets, hotter summers, or changes in biodiversity. I’d incorporate cross-curricular learning: exploring climate data in geography, persuasive writing on climate justice in English, and sustainable innovation in science.
Three key actions we’d take as a class: Start a plastic-free week and audit school waste. Plant a pollinator-friendly garden to support biodiversity. Write letters to local councillors advocating for greener policies
I work in the inner city area in Dublin so there are plenty of organizations in the area that support refugees. Two of these organizations are the Irish refugee council and Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI). The Irish Refugee Council offers free and confidential information, advocacy, a law centre, and drop-in support tailored to refugees and international protection applicants. They address issues such as Direct Provision, family reunification, and the asylum process. Appointments and helpline services are available. SARI uses sporting events and programmes to foster integration and combat racism. Their initiatives include the “World Refugee Day Fair Play Football Cup,” promoting community building through sport.
SARI have visited my school on several occasions and provided workshops for the more senior classes. These workshops were beneficial as there are many refugee students in the school. Students who took part in these workshops really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. Schools and students can play an important role in creating inclusive, welcoming communities for refugees. Teacherss could integrate refugee stories, global migration, and human rights into subjects like CSPE, SPHE, English, History, and Geography. As a school, we are always very welcoming and understand that the children are coming from a huge variety of backgrounds and experiences. Diversity and inclusivity is always celebrated and we encourage all the children in our school to share their stories. We find a lot of the local students are fascinated by these stories. We also celebrate culture week where students get to wear clothes from their own countries and we also get to try a variety of foods from different cultures.
SDG 13, climate action, is a very important aspect of students lives today. Children are affected by climate action at both local and global levels in several ways. Local schools may involve students in recycling, gardening, or sustainability projects, helping them learn about responsibility and environmental stewardship. Also, local climate initiatives, like reducing air pollution or increasing green spaces, can improve children’s health and create cleaner places to play and learn. Global climate efforts aim to reduce extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and food insecurity, which does affect the lives of young learners. I can encourage my students to take action to support SDGs in Ireland by making the goals relatable and fun. An example of this would be creating a school garden. Children would be responsible for maintaining the garden and planting the appropriate vegetation. Children could also be encouraged to do a litter pick in the local area which would look after the environment and reduce waste pollution.
Gender stereotypes can limit students’ interests and potential by shaping how they see themselves and what they believe they can achieve. This can be seen at a young age as this can influence subject choices, play preferences, and classroom behavior. Boys may feel pressure to appear strong or unemotional, while girls might avoid subjects like science or PE.
In my experience as a teacher in an all boys school gender stereotypes are quite evident. Most of the boys play football at lunch time as it is the boy thing to do. Boys who don’t get involved may get comments from other classmates. It is important for these boys to know that not every boy has to play football and some people have different interests. On a non uniform day a student had a pink t-shirt on and another student pointed this out and said pink was a girls colour. It was important foe the boys to know in the class that it is okay for both boys and girls to wear pink and that there is know set colour for a boy and girl.
Development education is important in the classroom as it helps children understand issues in the world such as climate change, poverty, inequality and human rights. All of these topics are major concerns in this day and age. The primary school classroom has become quite diverse. Children in the classroom are dealing with all these issues and some of the children are living in poverty. This is seen in the class I am working in.
To include this in my teaching I could link SESE subjects to global issues like sustainability, human rights, and inequality. I could also use real world resources in my teaching by brining in news articles, documentaries, or guest speakers to connect learning with real-life experiences.
To encourage colleagues to plan development education activities a staff group could be set up where these staff members could come together and come up with some activities and initiatives to introduce into the school. This could lead to a culture day or an international day where children get to celebrate their nationalities and different cultures in the school.I absolutely agree that children are exposed to too much information online and it must be quite difficult for them to comprehend. This is relevant today as there are a lot of countries experiencing war. It must be quite upsetting to see children their own age in these situations.
How can the school community reduce plastic intake and carbon footprint in the school?
We will choose one topic to concentrate on for the year out of the various ways and areas we might strive to lessen our carbon impact. Our goal will be to use less plastic in lunchboxes. Our school has discovered that there is an issue with the quantity of plastic that ends up in our trash cans at the end of the day. The bulk of the plastic comes from lunches, yogurt pots, and cling film-wrapped meals. We will designate a few children to serve as monitors, going from class to class to tally the quantity of plastic in lunchboxes. The children can be encouraged to lessen the amount of plastic in their lunchboxes. Students might hold a poster challenge, award awards for the class that improves the most, etc. Pupils will receive ideas, and parents may receive a “idea sheet” at home. Reusable bottles, large yogurt pots that may be sent in small glass jars, reusable cling film or paper, etc. Proceed with the initiative; ideally, it will inspire improvements at home as well, which will help us lessen our carbon footprint both at home and at school.
I found the video “Home” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand quite fascinating. With the help of an organized and engaging lesson plan, I would provide my students with information about climate change. I would begin by giving a quick synopsis of the video “Home,” emphasizing its emphasis on the interdependence of all species on Earth and the effects of human activity on the environment. Then I would clarify that although humans have only been on the planet for 200,000 years, the video offers a thorough examination of Earth’s history, showing how life has changed over the course of 4 billion years.I would play back to the class carefully chosen clips from the video that highlight important information and ideas related to climate change. In order to further solidify the ideas covered, I would use visual aids like graphs, charts, and pictures. After that, I would walk students through using the interactive climate model tool, which shows them how various human activities will affect future temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions. Including some in-class experiments to demonstrate the greenhouse effect might be helpful.
Access to a variety of satellites is possible with the help of the robust and intuitive EO browser. You may see, download, and visualize the most recent photographs from all around the world using this browser. With it, students may accomplish so much more in the classroom. This is an indispensable tool. It is also easy to use. Pupils can compare satellite photos of urbanization, natural disasters, and deforestation. The development of children’s comprehension of how the world changes depends on this resource. Through this engaging experience, children may develop their critical thinking skills and learn in an enjoyable way, leading to a greater understanding of the amazing world we live in. I would recommend downloading the EO browser as it is without any hesitation, one of the best interactive tools I have used as it is straightforward and engaging.
In Activity 3, we were asked to use the tool for temperature prediction and watch the Paxi clip on greenhouse gasses. I would utilize the Paxi clip as one of my stimulation materials in class to get the conversation going on this subject. The clip, in my opinion, gave a very basic and understandable explanation of the greenhouse gas effect that even young children could watch. I especially enjoyed how it concluded with a positive perspective on how everyone of us can contribute individually by engaging in simple measures that lessen the effects of greenhouse gasses. The media publicly discusses greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on the environment. Children will have heard talks about climate change and how we can all contribute in their everyday lives. Some examples of these include using various colored bins, recycling cans and bottles in stores, driving electric cars, riding a bike or walking, etc. In addition, predictions and discussions about climate change and its effects on the world are becoming more common. The temperature predictor is the instrument that I would choose. With the help of this tool, we can forecast future temperatures and see how local temperatures can rise.
The ESA resource activities are perfect for use in the classroom. They are useful and well-organized. If I were to make use of these materials, I would begin by learning about the differences between climate and weather. While it may seem clear to an adult, I assume that young children would value further explanation of this idea. Next, I would try to establish a weather station in the schoolyard. Creating a small team, even with only one additional teacher, would be my first move. Collaborating fosters collegiality and could improve the number of kids who gain from the trial. We would decide on a spot together; ideally, it would be distant from trees and houses. Next, we would spend money on equipment. Some of the equipment could be made, but this might be done as an after-school project to broaden the kids’ education. We would buy a wind vane, a rain gauge, and a thermometer. After that, we would proceed to gather information from our devices. This would require a recording. At this point, it would be wise to include community projects and parents in order to promote a sense of involvement and practical application.