Braintree pupils pledge to protect the climate

Ninety pupils from Great Bradfords Junior School in Braintree came together at a special assembly to look at how they can tackle the challenge.

As part of the school’s half-term local citizenship project, children from Year 4 undertook a six-week project to look at the impact of litter in and around their school and invited Braintree Council to attend a special assembly to present their work.

Their project began by researching the amount and types of rubbish they litter-picked and investigating the reasons why they thought it was present.

The children surveyed the litter bins they currently use in their school grounds and produced their own litter bin designs to share their ideas of how they felt they could be improved.

Braintree Council climate change and environment boss Wendy Schmitt said: “I was extremely overwhelmed to be invited to the assembly and to listen to what the children had to say, view their project work, and read all the individual letters they had written to me personally.

“Seeing how passionate they are about the environment, I can only applaud the children and the school for their initiative.

“Our younger generation is the beginning of the end to litter and is a beacon of excellence demonstrating how much they care about tackling climate change to protect the future of our planet - our home.”

Deputy head and Year 4 teacher Beverley Thompson added: “The children were so excited to work on this project and feel very passionate about looking after the environment and protecting the creatures who share our spaces.

“Having the opportunity to present their findings to Councillor Schmitt only made them even more determined to make an impact and influence others to make good choices.”

After taking on board the views expressed by the children in their letters, Braintree Council says it will work alongside the school to recommend bins currently available in the marketplace that may be a better investment for the school’s needs.