Our EarthWyz Festival has had a huge impact on the whole school

EarthWyz, Hazlegrove’s Festival of Sustainability, was a week jam-packed full of events that have had a huge impact on us as a School. 

BBC television’s Coast presenter and marine conservationist, Miranda Krestovnikoff, showed us just how dynamic marine life is.  She shocked us with graphic accounts of the impact single-use plastics are having on food chains and inspired us with practical solutions to help clean up the UK’s coastline.  One Tutor Group decided to take immediate action and the day after the festival finished, they went on a beach clean at Osmington Mills, near Weymouth.  These children could not believe how much rubbish there was to find, particularly the large number of plastic bottles.  We will carry out more beach cleans in the future.  We have also started five online petitions, designed to change the way plastics are used for good. 

Food miles were another big focus during the week and pupils were astonished at the distances many of the items in our shopping baskets have travelled to reach us.  As a result, groups of pupils from each of our four houses are now growing potatoes and other vegetables around the school site and competing to see who can produce the best crop.  It is vital that we don’t just engender a desire in our young children to eat local produce - we must also ensure that they have the ability to successfully grow crops themselves.

Other activities during the EarthWyz Festival included making recycled paper, hearing how the Greenland ice sheet is changing from an explorer who has trekked right across it and making solar powered boats and ovens. 

All in all, it was a hugely inspiring week of learning at Hazlegrove.  We are already seeing practical results and trust that the next generation will continue to be motivated to live as sustainably as possible.

For more information about events at our EarthWyz Festival please visit our blog: www.hazlegrove.co.uk/EarthWyz