HOLME GRANGE STUDENTS WILL BE THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHANGE MAKERS. As a Sustainability and Climate Change Centre for Excellence, Holme Grange School aims to produce global citizens and informed consumers. Students are empowered to lead the changes needed to create a resilient and inclusive community. We have the first certified carbon literacy teachers in the world and we are the first eduCCate Global Gold Standard school. We don’t just pay lip service to sustainability; it’s embedded throughout the curriculum whether that be in our Nursery or in the senior years to give children the knowledge and understanding they need and want. “Eco-councils” across each section of the school (including staff and parents) meet weekly to work on smaller scale initiatives with the Sustainable Development Goals as their guide. Pupils work towards gaining Sustainability Badges in Prep School. In November 2021 the whole school took part in “Mock COP”. 60 student delegates filled our hall in a UN style conference discussing progress since the Paris agreement and the work that still needs to be done. Other pupils completed a range of activities including clearing a fake oil spill, designing and building a flood-proof model house, planting crocus bulbs, creating non-for-profit businesses and discussing gender equality. Roving reporters and journalists captured the mood. We 46
even had a conference artist who sketched the plenary session. In collaboration with Wokingham council and other schools in the borough, we want sustainability to be an essential part of every school’s syllabus and not an optional extra. Our ultimate aim is for the creation of a Sustainability GCSE. Our bespoke Climate Bravery course in Year 9 is blazing a trail towards that goal with the University of Oxford on board for a future research project. As a result, Holme Grange students will be the next generation of change makers.
www.holmegrange.org Contact: 0118 978 1566 | school@holmegrange.org WOKINGHAM LOCAL • JUNE 2022
