We are proud to share our successful completion of the ‘Connecting Classrooms’ Project led by the British Council in partnership with Notley Green Primary School, John Ray Junior School and three schools in Tanzania.

At Notley High School we have completed three different activities to promote making sustainable choices and becoming responsible consumers.

As a whole school, we have each created a promise leaf of our pledge to the planet for what we will do to reduce our carbon footprint. We learnt about different ways we can reduce our impact and chose one idea to commit to. Some of us pledged to walk or cycle to school, while others focussed on cutting single use plastic from their lifestyle. Some students plan to eat less meat, and some have joined our Tanzanian partners in promising to plant vegetables and even trees! Our Tree of Promises is on display in the school library and has hundreds of leaves on it. We believe that those hundreds of pledges will make our community a more environmentally responsible one.

The Year 8 students at Notley High School focussed their learning on the topic of food and how to make sustainable food choices. They explored the importance of having a balanced diet and have created informative posters to give everyone tips and ideas on how to care for the planet, as well as your tummy! They also learned some interesting facts. How many days of eating a vegetarian diet would it take to save the weight of a polar bear in CO2? Once a week! What percentage of global emissions come from food? 26%! We couldn’t believe how easy it is to make a big difference at the dinner table.

The Year 11 prefect team took on the topic of fast fashion. Together they considered the impact of fast fashion on both the planet and the people who work in that industry. Students each donated second-hand clothes and had a mountain of beautiful items that they could wear without adding to their carbon footprint. Then came the really fun part – they had a photoshoot! Students put together their favourite outfits and went on a catwalk around the school showing off to friends and any unsuspecting teachers they came across. Our students hope that by raising awareness of fast fashion, more people in our community will be able to make sustainable choices for the future.

We held a celebration evening on Friday 4th December which included such distinguished guests as our Parish Councillor, our vicar, and the governors and senior leadership teams from all three schools, as well as some very proud parents. Visitors commented on how fantastic it was to see the effort and enthusiasm students had for combatting climate change and we hope to continue our pledges to protect our planet and perhaps to have inspired you too!

Asanti and thank you!

Miss Churchman

(Photos - provided. George Brinkley and Faith Kern giving a speech, as well as Sophie Ball and Suzie Miller performing ‘Skyfall’. There is also a display board showing the school work we received from Tanzania.)