Schools in Nelson and Tasman take action for climate change
Primary school children are taking to the streets in a "call-to-action" on climate change, as part of an environmental programme that has involved more than 15,000 school children nationwide. Students from two classes at Takaka Primary School are due to march to the village green on Friday, with placards bearing messages about why they care about climate change. Other students in the Nelson region are also sending postcards to local MPs, calling for action on things like reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and examining ways to cut their own carbon footprint. It is the culmination of a seven-week programme, run by social enterprise Squawk Squad, in the lead up to Conservation Week this week. READ MORE: * Festival for the Future to celebrate young Kiwis with inaugural Impact Awards * School climate change strike: Mum supports her kids standing up for their values * Climate change strike worth truancy threat, students say More than ten primary and intermediate schools in Nelson and Tasman district have used the one-hour weekly lesson plans, whose themes have included "Predator Free 2050", Kaitiakitanga (guardianship), and the marine environment. The focus of the final session this week was for primary children across the country to challenge their whanau, community and local MPs to act on climate change, programme organisers said. Year 5 and 6 students from Takaka Primary School's Kahikatea were among those who had been involved in the "Conservation Week Programme". Students submitted videos of the activities they undertook, which ranged from making predator traps to rapping, as part of weekly competitions. "The [students] are excited, and their parents are excited about it," , teacher Lynda Anderson said. "It highlights all of the things we need to be thinking about locally." A class of Year 2 students at Nelson Central school were also among those who took part, with activities including making nesting boxes, mouse traps and tracking tunnels. Their teacher Kathryn Robertson said they were due to carry out experiments this week around melting ice and global warming, and would promote this weekend's NBus free service , and how walking and riding to school helped reduce their carbon footprint. Environmental matters were a passion for the school community, Principal Pip Wells said. The programme and its call-to-action on climate change helped students develop a greater sense of awareness and responsibility for looking after world, she said. "They're the future generation and this is a key focus for our world. "If we can't support them to build understandings that were sadly lacking in some of our early days, then we're not making the world a better place." Squawk Squad has been offering the lesson plans for three years, designed to teach "tamariki to become kaitiaki for Aotearoa". Teachers could pick and choose what was best for their class, and extend it from there, Anderson said.