Eight pupils from Years 5 and 6 recently attended the first Reading Earth Summit held at Thales in Green Park.
This event organised by local prep school, St Edwards asked pupils to devise, present and justify pledges that would address climate change.
Our pupils’ pledges were to
- reduce traffic around the schools by use of bike lanes
- promote car sharing and walking
- cut the use of plastic in the classroom, school and at home by using sustainable products and reducing practices such as laminating.
The pupils worked hard to make posters, interactive displays and wrote their pledges. They carried out surveys and presented this information in an eye-catching way. On the day there were a number of other teams there from 7 schools, all with a range of different ideas.
The pupils presented to three judges – Ian Gough (Reduce Energy LTD), Professor Hannah Cloke (University of Reading) and Rt Hon Sir Alok Sharma (MP for Reading West). The judges also spoke about their area of expertise and had searching questions for the presenters!
The pupils also had opportunities to speak to other children about their pledges and it was wonderful to listen to their conversations and heart-warming to hear them so passionate about addressing climate change.
The judges were so impressed by the presentations that they could not choose just one. They announced that one from Leighton Park – on having a meat free day at school – was the winning pledge, but because a number of presentations had addressed plastic reduction that this also should be part of the overall picture.
