Climate Change and Green Action

At Gwinear School we believe that the dangers of Climate Change and other Environmental Emergencies pose the greatest threat to our society and the futures of our children.  We have a duty to safeguard their wellbeing and as part of that duty we feel it is important that we try to both educate them and help all stakeholders to be best informed about the issue generally and about the school's actions in relation to it.  We will therefore use this page to update you on climate change and environmental education related events in and out of school and as portal to signpost useful sources of information.  There is still a great deal of debate about the effects of climate change and other environmental issues and any research that involves making projections about the future will be based on opinion. We cannot therefore claim that all information found here or on linked sites is entirely accurate but we will endeavour to highlight key research so that you are best informed to make your own opinion.  We are also keen to hear from members of the community if there are ways that we could develop the page to better serve its purpose.

As part of the school’s quest to meet and/or exceed targets set in the Green Charter for schools we are delighted to be the first school in the country to pilot the use of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) to power our heating.  The school already produces nearly as much electricity as it uses from the solar panels on the roof and the electricity that we buy in is from green providers.  However to become as carbon neutral as possible we also wanted to heat our building in the greenest way possible.  Nationally there is a move to use air source heat pumps but at the moment this is both cost prohibitive for us and probably ineffective anyway due to the physical characteristics of a 100 year old building.  We have therefore responded to Mitchell and Webber’s proposal to trial the renewable fuel HVO which has up to 90% saving in net greenhouse gas CO2 emissions.  To find out more about HVO visit Mitchell and Webber’s website using this link - Mitchell & Webber

The powerpoint slide shown above was created by university student Jessica Bode (Mrs B's daughter) to give a simple introduction and explanation to the causes and effects of Climate Change and was used in an assembly in school.  More detailed information about Climate Change and research about climate patterns and predictions can be found at the Met office website:
 
 
Transform Your World  11.12.19
The Transform Our World website has some useful resources and activities for anyone wanting to be a proactive citizen.  If you complete any please bring them to me or Mrs B and maybe we can post some on here.  You can get to the website by following the link below:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Penwith Heads Meeting 15.11.19
At the latest biannual Penwith Head's Meeting all schools present agreed to adopt the Green Charter above as an instrument for change in their schools.
Penwith Climate Change Conference 12.11.19
The school's Climate Change Group went with Mr Gardiner and Mrs Bode to the climate change conference along with over 100 representatives from other schools in Penwith.  Keynote speakers Chris Lubbe and Manda Brookman helped us believe that "Nobody is too small too make a difference" and children took part in a range of workshops to help them think creatively about solutions.  As Manda quoted "Imagination is our biggest weapon in the fight against Climate Change".