Local well-being

With their central locations, facilities and extensive networks schools can act as hubs of learning and catalysts for change in their local communities. Focusing on local challenges and finding solutions to them gives pupils the opportunity to learn and helps to strengthen local relationships. It also allows them to experience how decisions are made at first hand, and to develop applied skills that complement classroom study.

Ideas for activities

Here are a few examples from around the borough to get you started:

Children from different schools have taken part in community river clean ups run by the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames and tree planting for the Thames Landscape Strategy.

Richmond Environment Network (REN) can come to your school give an assembly on environmental volunteering and invite your pupils along with their families to volunteering events.

Chase Bridge Primary School pupils spent a day investigating the issues surrounding the redevelopment of Twickenham Embankment. They looked at how local government works and pupils came up with ideas for their own ideas for a riverside scheme.

School allotments (such as the one pictured from Orleans Infants School) can be great for bringing in volunteers from the community to help your children grow vegetables. From this could stem innumerable projects related to active living, healthy food and world food cultures.

Contact the Richmond Environment Network

The Richmond Environment Network works to support environmental groups and organisations as well as environmental activities inschools.

Joe Pecorelli, Richmond Environment Network
Email: jo.pecorelli@virgin.net
Telephone: 07974 725 557.