Last week Bloxham joined thousands of communities across the country for the biggest climate and nature event in UK history, The Great Big Green Week.
When asked to summarise the event, Director of Broader Curriculum, Mr Brassington, had the following to say:
Ahead of the COP26, there is a global focus, and growing sense of urgency, around the issue of Climate Change. Bloxham School’s involvement in The Great Big Green Week last week helped raise awareness of the key issues of climate change and inspired some self-reflection on how we, the School, might help in slowing down the speed of global warming. On all accounts, it was truly a great, productive event to be a part of.
Through green-focussed classroom and house activities and collaborative efforts with the Bio-Diversity Bloxham group, the School engaged with a range of creative initiatives to help reduce its environmental footprint in both the short and long term. Below are just some of these activities, scratching the surface of the School’s overall efforts last week:
The GreenPower Electric Car Project
To start off our coverage of the Great Big Green Week, we caught up with the GreenPower Electric Car Project team, who are continually working on improving the car’s efficiency with the eventual aim of racing it in the Greenpower IET Formula 24.
Projects like this are a great way of encouraging students to develop a passion for green engineering and renewable energy, an area of expertise that is fundamental to the future of the planet.
To learn more about the GreenPower Electric Car Project, click here.
Fourth Form Chemistry - Climate Change Newspapers
In Miss Clarke’s Chemistry class, the Fourth Form were tasked with producing an electronic newspaper on climate change and its effect on the planet as a part of the Great Big Green Week.
Their mission sees them pulling together interviews and research from the scientific community to provide a definitive list of suggestions on how the Bloxham community could help ‘do their bit’ to tackle climate change.
Here are just two examples of the newspaper articles produced:
Meadow to Mill Walk & Sustainability Talk
Padre and a collection of pupils joined members of Bio-Diversity Bloxham and wider village community on their Meadow to Mill walk, learning about local conservation efforts. Upon arrival at Bloxham Mill Business Centre, the pupils received a short talk from Agrivert Ltd CEO, Alexander Madden, on sustainability, anaerobic digestion, and the treatment of organic waste.
The Wilberforce Black-Out
Doing their bit for the Great Big Green Week, Wilberforce chose to spend a day with no electricity. In the evening the house got together under candlelight to play board games and socialise (all without a single mobile phone).
"Can I Live?" Production
The Drama Department watched the world renowned theatre group, Complicité, in their current production “Can I Live?”
The play charts a course through the fundamental issues underpinning the climate emergency, identifying the intimate relationship between the environmental crisis & the global struggle for social justice. It also explores the complexity of Climate Change by examining responses across generations, various cultural backgrounds and social classes.
DT's Upcycle Challenge
As a part of Great Big Green Week effort, the Design Technology Department tasked the Lower School with upcycling old/broken items they found at home or around the school.
Nina B made a brilliant bug house from old tubes and bark, Josie B and Anna M made flower pots from old fizzy drinks bottles, and Emilia K made a shelf unit from an old guitar; all marvellously innovative designs!
Student Sustainability at Bloxham Group - SS@B
Last but certainly not least, last week saw the birth of a new student led group – SS@B. With a focus on long term sustainability efforts beyond the Great Big Green Week, the group run by Mr Bowden and Sixth Former, Zoe A (who is currently writing an EPQ on the future of sustainability), met for the first time last week to discuss how the school could improve their environmental footprint this year.
The group circulated ideas such as installing an automated light system across the school, improving the current recycling efforts, and cutting down on single-use sauce sachets and disposable cups.
We look forward to seeing the effect this group could have on the operation of the school in the next year.