Schools March through Hebden Bridge for the Climate
Wednesday 3 July 2024
Junior schools, including Scout Road Academy, Riverside Junior School, Hebden Royd C of E Primary School, and Burnley Road Academy, have completed the Town Council's first year long Interschool Climate Café programme in a visually stunning fashion.
The students marched through Hebden Bridge on Thursday, June 13, showcasing the beautiful climate emergency flags of hope, and the suncatchers they had personally designed and created in earlier sessions with local artists Sue Walpole and Jude Wadley. Each piece shared a powerful and positive climate emergency message.
Students Address Local Leaders
The students then delivered impressive presentations to an eclectic audience, including Mayor of Hebden Royd, Cllr Pat Fraser, councillors, and Cllr Scott Patient, the new Deputy Leader of Calderdale Council.
Learning About Landscapes
The children also learned about local upland habitats with Halifax Scientific Society expert Anthony Arak and designed delightful puppets with local artist Sue Walpole, which were later used to create an Eco venture puppet film.
Mr. Arak remarked, "What a wonderful day! The stars of the show were definitely the kids. I was so impressed by their answers to my questions. I didn't expect anyone to know about the existence of water spiders or the antiseptic properties of sphagnum moss! Clearly, there are budding young naturalists in Hebden Bridge. The children's artwork was amazing."
Mayor of Hebden Royd, Cllr Pat Fraser added, "I was really impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of the pupils from the Hebden Royd area! Well done to all."
This broad-reaching and innovative climate emergency youth project, funded, designed and delivered by the Town Council, consisted of eight separate collaborative Climate Café sessions for KS2 pupils studying in the Hebden Royd area. The students were provided with a framework to develop skills in leadership, communication, and creativity to help drive positive and sustainable change in their schools and communities.
In previous events, participating schools received their own wormery, as well as hi-vis vests and baseball caps, to kickstart their sustainability initiatives. These initiatives included auditing their schools and grounds, making suggestions for improvements based on the results, recycling and composting programs, active travel education, upcycling clothes, learning about sphagnum moss, making wildflower seed bomb sculptures, and participating in other biodiversity and arts programs.
The Town Council extended thanks to Northern Rail for providing free train tickets to and from Mytholmroyd for the cohorts from Scout Road Academy and Burnley Road Academy throughout the year.