Pilot programme on sustainability and healthy living in schools
At the moment this project is still at a very early stage of its development; we've run sessions in a couple of classes, and are now applying for funding to help further develop our materials and approach as well as finding the good resources that are already out there.
As a student group we think it would be a good idea for us to develop practical projects that students can set up or get involved in while they're at university, and we think being not so far from school age may make it easier to talk to kids on their level. Most of all, we want to learn from the process ourselves.
After pilot sessions this year, we're aiming to be ready to recruit students at more Healthy Planet branches around the UK to run sessions in their local schools when the next academic year starts in September. From our pilot, we're planning to produce a pack of teaching materials and activities that can be shared with other students, with teachers and with NGOs who sometimes work in schools to use freely.
These will be very interactive, with kids encouraged to participate actively and having the chance to be creative and come up with their own ideas, and we'd like to work with schools on a longer-term basis to try to find ways to support them to make changes, such as setting up walking buses or healthy and low-carbon lunches that children can have input into choosing.
Why do we think this would be worth doing?
There are a number of reasons why we think this scheme would be worth trying out...
We'd also like to do some work in secondary schools in the future, looking at topics more related to global citizenship including the impacts of climate change on developing countries and access to food around the world.
How can you get involved?
Just contact healthyplanet@medsin.org to find out more or arrange a chat.
As a student group we think it would be a good idea for us to develop practical projects that students can set up or get involved in while they're at university, and we think being not so far from school age may make it easier to talk to kids on their level. Most of all, we want to learn from the process ourselves.
After pilot sessions this year, we're aiming to be ready to recruit students at more Healthy Planet branches around the UK to run sessions in their local schools when the next academic year starts in September. From our pilot, we're planning to produce a pack of teaching materials and activities that can be shared with other students, with teachers and with NGOs who sometimes work in schools to use freely.
These will be very interactive, with kids encouraged to participate actively and having the chance to be creative and come up with their own ideas, and we'd like to work with schools on a longer-term basis to try to find ways to support them to make changes, such as setting up walking buses or healthy and low-carbon lunches that children can have input into choosing.
Why do we think this would be worth doing?
There are a number of reasons why we think this scheme would be worth trying out...
- Kids are much smarter than we sometimes give them credit for, and often ask wise questions. We think they'll teach us a lot.
- Health and sustainability or climate change are rarely connected in the school curriculum, but there are actually very many links between them, which is a gap we want to narrow.
- They are going to be affected both by the consequences of climate change and of unhealthy lifestyles, so we want to give them the knowledge and the opportunity to make positive change.
- We want to see how feasible it is to change attitudes and behaviours, what they think, and how they respond to activities showing them how the environment and health are linked.
- We think it'll be fun - for the students running the sessions, the kids in the sessions and hopefully their teachers too!
We'd also like to do some work in secondary schools in the future, looking at topics more related to global citizenship including the impacts of climate change on developing countries and access to food around the world.
How can you get involved?
Just contact healthyplanet@medsin.org to find out more or arrange a chat.
