To their delight, the whole of year 8 had timetables suspended for 2 days on 3rd and 4th July 2008 to take part in an Eco-Extravaganza. The purpose of this was twofold. Firstly to undertake some research about the environment and global citizenship which will hopefully enable Y Pant to gain Eco Schools Green Flag status sometime in the near future. The second was to give pupils the opportunity to learn some new “thinking skills” and to work with people they had not worked with before.

We started the Thursday with a whole-year assembly in which Mr Harbour and Mrs Jones explained the purpose of the day. Pupils were then divided into 10 groups. Each group was given an inflatable globe and asked to note down “what does the world mean to me?”. They then took part in a carousel of activities during the day:

School survey – the whole school grounds were surveyed for litter, tree and plant species, areas where pupils liked going and where they don’t like going etc.

Water water – pupils learned how much of the world does not have access to safe water and just how much water we waste in this country, plus what we can do about it.

Fairtrade – an inspiring film was shown giving pupils a real understanding of how trade in chocolate and bananas etc. affects families in other countries. They also did a taste test on Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade chocolate.

Top Gear – green issues surrounding transport were examined and the carbon-footprint of teachers’ cars calculated.

World of Sport – a look at sport around the world, pupils learned the Haka, had a go at sumo wrestling and gladiator-style jousting.