Local primary school joins billions worldwide to mark Earth Day

STAFF and children at The Manor Primary School, part of the The White Horse Federation, marked Earth Day with a number of school-wide activities.

Thursday 22nd April saw more than 1 billion people across 192 countries celebrate Earth Day 2021 with this year’s theme focusing on ‘Restore our Earth.’

At the school, different year group bubbles took part in a series of activities to celebrate the day and remind children of the importance of restoring our planet for future generations.

The children worked together to begin to create a pollinator-friendly area in their outdoor area, planting seeds and preparing the ground. The children also had fun creating their own version of the earth. Year 1 and 2 spent the day learning about the importance of recycling and designed posters encouraging their classmates and wider school community to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Books and a love of reading is firmly at the heart of the school ethos so pupils in Year 3 and 4 explored the story ‘The Promise’ and linking this to global warming and restoring our planet. Children spent some time outside listening to the world around them and also made a personal, class, and family promise to look after the Earth in different ways. Going forward, the children plan to grow tomatoes in the classroom.

Reading also played a major part in Year 5’s day as they enjoyed learning about Greta Thunberg and other environmental activists whilst pupils in Year 6 discussed why we celebrate Earth Day and created slogans to help others to share in their passion of why it’s so important to look after the world we live in.

Hannah Gordon, Principal at The Manor C of E Primary School, said, “It was fantastic to see pupils of all ages get involved and learn more about the world around us whilst also having lots of fun. After the year we have had, it’s so important for our children to continue to appreciate and take joy in our environment and all the positive benefits it brings.”