A couple of weeks ago Eco Friends were invited to attend an assembly at Parson Down School to speak as part of their Ocean Protectors Day.
Parsons Down have been part of the Eco-Schools programme for several years and the children chose to look at the oceans for the latest part of the scheme with an “Ocean Protectors Day”
Eco Friends, we were so happy to be able to be part of the day, the children were engaged throughout the assembly and lots of hands went up to answer the questions put to them. We explained how rubbish from their lunch boxes can end up in the sea even though we live nowhere near it!
We talked about how we can stop this from happening by using the bins for our rubbish and litter picking but that not using single-use plastics in the first place was an even better place to start, the children had lots of alternatives to single-use plastics that they were eager to share with us.
This is what the school had to say about the day:
On Tuesday 12th March, Parsons Down Partnership of Schools in Thatcham took part in their Ocean Protectors Day. This was devised by their pupil-led eco committee. On the day, everyone came to school dressed in blue and donated money to the Marine Conservation Society. £163.20 was raised for the charity.
The day began with an assembly led by Eco Friends member, Sam Carpenter, who explained how litter that is dropped can get into the ocean via drains and rivers. Sam also talked about how reducing the amount of single-use plastic we buy can make a big difference.
After assembly, the children took part in various marine themed activities in class, including creative writing and crafts. Each class was also given a cardboard template to work on. These will come together to create a display board in the hall, demonstrating the danger of single-use plastic to the marine environment.
Parsons Down also set some homework to complete during the week. Families were encouraged to take part in The Big Plastic Count. The school hopes this will spread the message even further.
Parsons Down’s Ocean Protectors Day was a marine topic action for their work on the Eco-Schools programme. To find out more about what the school has achieved, as part of this programme, please take a look at the Parsons Down Partnership website.
We really enjoyed our visit and can’t wait for another chance to engage with these bright young sparks of the future.
If you'd be interested in EcoFriends engaging the children at your school, please email us at contactus@ecofriends.org.uk.