After months of work, we have launched our workshop project for schools. St. Lawrence C of E Junior School have been a brilliant support in its development and trialled it for us. The video I have posted shows just how successful it was with pupils and teachers alike. The children really enjoyed having their say, making the artwork and being able to send their messages to toy producers asking them to cut out single-use plastic.
We think the workshop powerful and relevant because the petition comes from within the schools, from the children themselves. We are hoping to gather children's voices from all over the country. When children participate in this, they are learning that they have a voice, and they can use that voice to make a powerful difference. They are also learning, not only about the environment, but about Democracy, Active Citizenship and Meaning for Learning.
During the workshop, we are using the lyrics of our song that we released in April to inspire discussion. The song has been a great success with children, and is also part of the workshop.
The effects of the workshop are on-going throughout the school year with a
practical take-home Earth-Guardian challenge.
So far, schools in Surrey, London, Bournemouth, Peterborough, Hertfordshire and Bath have signed up, and that's fantastic! Children are the change-makers of the future, whatever the subject. We hope our positive workshop offers children the opportunity to face the future feeling empowered, with a clear idea of how to take action in their own lives and make their voices heard in a safe and effective way.
If your school would like to join our campaign, please let us know. The workshop is completely free of charge and completely downloadable from our website with a READ ME document that contains full instructions on how to take part, a PowerPoint for ease-of-use and prompts for the classrooms, videos, as well as the song backing track and lyrics.