Many of our projects are not confined to one school term. And several straddle the people, animals and environment divide! PEP TALK, our campaign for the eradication of non-recyclable yogurt pots is an example of both. Running and building throughout the year, it was inspired by graphic images of marine life wrecked by plastic in the Pacific. This simple idea from a school has had real resonance in business with Yeo Valley who have lent massive support and producing their new four pack yoghurts in PET. Students have talked to many groups, such as WRAP, individuals and groups such as Laverstoke Park about the campaign. The path has been, and continues to be challenging, but images of the animals endure, …

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Animals
The students were introduced to the Roots & Shoots Programme and Jane Goodall’s work in a group setting and then science and geography lessons were used to explore topics of adaptations and habitats.
An outdoor education visit was planned for Chester Zoo to investigate animal adaptations and observe the created habitats.

Educational visit to Chester Zoo 12th November 2010.
A group of students visited the zoo and took part in a workshop to learn more about animal adaptations specific to a Rainforest environment.
Live Animals
Madagascan Hissing Cockroach

 

The students discovered that the cockroach was well equipped for a life on the forest floor. It had perfect camouflage as it was exactly the same colour …

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Things are beginning to pick up a pace and I thought I would spend a few moments catching up with our latest goings on and to write a little something about Ric O’ Barry and the situation in Japan. I have written before about our using local libraries for display purposes and thought that our fellow agents might be interested in actually seeing photos of these.
  

Quite by chance we find ourselves with a subsidiary branch in Buckinghamshire and we are looking forward to engaging with our agents there. They will adhere roughly to the Highland Facilitator Team’s agenda …

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Year 5 were granted a look into the Blind Community. The workshop revolved around the difficulties and challenges faced by blind people and how we can sometimes go out of our way to help them if they need it. The children also grasped the adaptations and solutions developed by and for blind people to help with everything; from everyday tasks like pouring a cup of tea to reading. We introduced two new languages to the class too, both Braille and Moon. The children grasped the subjects well and came up with challenging ideas such as how blind people dream and what their concept of the world could be.

Agent Diamond and the H Team at St. Luke’s Science and Sports College have now set up their own dedicated fund-raising page:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StLukes
Through Virgin Money Giving, you can sponsor them and donations will be quickly processed and passed to the charity. Virgin Money Giving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity’s behalf where the donor is eligible for this.

To see the kind of work that you could support the H Team at St. Luke’s in doing, here are some video bulletins:…

Read all of St. Luke’s SSC Fundraising Opportunities and Video Bulletins!

Dust Bowl Project:
People
People were affected in the 1930′s by the effects of giant Dust Bowls in much the same way as they are today in Kent, the only difference being the way in which the use of technology may help.

The agents looked at how people adapted then and now with specific interest being shown with regards appropriate accommodation and clothing and a fine time was had designing suitable attire. The agents then developed a poster entitled “What can we do?” to show the many ways in which individuals can help each other. They also looked at the differing means available to support large numbers of individuals with limited access to food and water, and we touched on the social implications …

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Holly Class were studying WW2, evacuation and rationing. As always, at Turners Hill, we like to try and tie our topics to our healthy eating and environmental ethos, so the children were asked to come up with a campaign similar to that of the Dig for Victory campaign but with a modern twist, ours being to grow your own vegetables and buy locally.

An opportunity was spotted to include the community in this project. Elderly members were invited into school and interviewed. They told the children about their experiences in the war, focusing on rationing and the produce they grew themselves.

The children researched war time recipes, searching out ones that could include produce that we grow in our own gardens. Holly …

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Our sense of ‘community’ transcends national boundaries. We have taken a conventional school twinning project and transformed it into a international project for the whole community. The result is a complex and innovative scheme that is having a massive impact on students and adults on two continents.

Warrington hit the national headlines for the wrong reasons in 2007 when Gary Newlove was killed by a teenage gang outside his home. Through this project our students play a positive role in their community and we achieve greater levels of community cohesion. Warrington is also one of the least ethnically diverse parts of the UK. Its population is 97.9% white (1). By working with the population of the Mdantsane township, we …

Read all of Lymm High School: Spreading the “Sense of Community” across Continents

Although new to the program they are twinned with a school in Uganda who were one of the first schools to take on the Roots & Shoots project. The staff are visiting the school in a couple of weeks and will discuss working together on Roots & Shoots projects.

by Fred Matser
Mikhail Gorbachev (Foreword), Deepak Chopra (Afterword)

Born into modest circumstances in the Netherlands, Fred Matser unexpectedly found himself heading the family business from a young age. He went on to develop it into one of the largest property development companies in Europe. Outside of his business career Matser had some extraordinary transcendental experiences that set him on a journey of personal discovery. His global travels opened his heart and mind to the needs of humanity and he has dedicated his life to philanthropic work that supports inspired change and greater consciousness in the fields of health, social change, education and the environment.

Weaving humorous anecdotes with heartrending tales and stories of personal transformation and hope, this …

Read all of Rediscover Your Heart : 7 Keys for Personal and Planetary Transformation