- Vote in the European Parliament Elections on 4 June
- Council to fly flag for armed forces
- Rape alarms available from police and Council
- Organic garden opens its gates
- Poetry, comedy and literature at libraries festival this summer
- Music and nature at the Stables Gallery
- Views wanted on policies to guide future growth of borough
- Council team takes up the bike challenge
- Walk the Thames
- New Mayor reopens Teddington Library
- Free parking in Richmond upon Thames on Monday
- Personal alarms available from police and Council
- Learning the Kunskapsskolan way
- New affordable homes to be built
- Council seeks new co-sponsor for Shene
- Your vote could help Orleans House Gallery win the £100,000 Art Fund prize
- By the light of the moon
- Making parks even better
- Get Fit in Castlenau Recreation Ground
- Football Club scores with Council
- Employee Awards for Power Candidates
- CPZ review
- Eat al fresco in Church Street
- Olympic gold medallist trains Richmond rowers
- Join in the fun at Heathfield Street Party on 16 May
- Meeting of young minds to become annual event
- Council supports IDAHO
- It’s stitching, but not as we know it
- How can we cut carbon footprint?
- Supper with Shakespeare
- Free adult learning taster sessions in borough’s libraries 9-15 May
- Kick off the summer with the Power Employment flower show
- Outdoor swimming pool opens for summer
- Standards Committee member wanted by Council
- Find out about Council services at Richmond Fair
- Comment on Shopfront Design Guide
- Your say wanted on how extensions are decided
- Pupils get ready to grow their own
- Volunteers are supporting community
- Borough smashes tree planting target
- Exclusively Richmond
Release Date: 12/05/2009
Meeting of young minds to become annual event
The pioneering pupils’ sustainability conference hosted by Hampton Hill Junior School in early May will become an annual event, after Richmond Council agreed to fund its running costs.
The first conference brought together more than 70 children - all of the borough’s 41 primaries, and its two special schools, were invited to take part -to learn how everyone, however young, can make a difference to the environment.
The conference, one of the first of its kind in the UK, was so successful the Council has agreed it should become an annual event so all children can share ideas on how to protect the environment and save energy.
Paul Chadwick, Richmond Council’s Director of Environment said: “I’ve been very impressed by what the children have told us and the unusual ways they have thought of to save energy and make their homes and schools more sustainable.
Nick Whitfield, Director of Education and Children’s Services said: “This year’s conference was a big success and provided a great opportunity for our children. Children’s ideas can challenge all of us to do a better job and this is a great way of ensuring we are kept up to date with their thoughts every year.
“The reason our primaries are the best in London is because we give children extra-curricular opportunities like this, and they reward themselves and us by being so creative and hopefully spreading the word at home.”
The Council will now make available between £500 and £1,000 for the conference each year to help fund the event and make sure resources are available.
Hampton Hill Junior School headteacher Bill Jerman said: “The sustainability agenda runs through everything we do, and this conference was a great example of cross-curricular and cross-school activity. The Government is asking all schools to make pupils aware and this is a very practical, hands-on way of doing that so we’re very glad to hear that it will be a regular event.”
They key themes of this year’s conference were making children and their families aware about the effects of climate change, showing them what they can do about it, encouraging them to act individually and taking ownership for the future when they are adults.
On the day, a drama workshop was led by Bigfoot Theatre, and children made sock monsters to show how materials can be re-used.
At the end, pupils wrote down key changes they thought people could make, which included:
- Don't leave the TV on standby - Joe Ayley, Hampton Hill Junior School.
- Swap clothes with your friends - Charlotte Fitch, Hampton Hill Junior School.
- Save the environment by growing our own food and not going to the supermarket by car - Krishan Sachdeva, Buckingham School.
- Reuse paddling pool water to water the plants - Jonida Ramekay, St Mary's CE Primary School
- Turn games consoles off, and don't leave them on standby - Thomas Jennings, St Edmunds School.
Their thoughts and ideas will be recorded at www.richmond.gov.uk/gogreen and will also feature in a display in the Civic Centre.
View the full press release