We’re often reminded of the importance of preserving the planet as we see it for future generations – and children at St Oswald’s Primary School in Chester certainly agree.
Nine-year old Isobel Kelleher from the school’s year five Hummingbirds class thinks adults need to take note. “Sometimes they can be busy and I don’t think they think they can make a difference, but if everyone does a little bit it all adds up,” she tells HuffPost UK.
Her message to grown-ups is this: “Every little bit helps to save your children’s world in the future – do something to help our planet.”
“We started looking at plastic pollution in our oceans and about things like plastic bags and broken down pieces of plastic are polluting them,” she says, “Fish can eat the plastic and they can die, or we might even eat the fish ourselves.”
Mr Timms, Isobel’s teacher and St Oswald’s deputy head, has been spearheading a new project at the school which let’s children loose creatively to raise awareness of the need to be more environmentally friendly.
The entire Hummingbirds class, which is made up of nine and 10-year-old pupils, has been busy writing poems and creating online video adverts to warn adults about the plight of our oceans and wildlife.
Mr Timms thinks children have an important role to play in teaching us how to take care of the things around us. “We sometimes overlook how much we can really learn from children, we just need to plant the seed and watch their enthusiasm take things onto another level,” he says.
“It has been fabulous having parents come in saying that their children have been nagging them to stop using plastic, and to recycle more, and even stopping them using plastic straws.”
Victoria Blackhurst, Isobel’s 10-year-old classmate, has written a poem about the plight of creatures in the sea and now her mum has banned plastic straws and plastic bags. Her poem is about imaginary, mystical sea horses who used to live free of the plastic “chains” left behind by humans, but eventually disappear forever – another casualty of the changing planet.
When it comes to making good choices for the planet, Victoria tells HuffPost UK, sometimes “adults try and do the easiest thing like use the car instead of walking to work or to school.”
And sometimes, she says, parents (who will no doubt relate) cook lots of different dinners instead of planning ahead. “For example one person wants to chicken nuggets and then in another oven someone wants fish fingers.”
Mr Timms is proud of his Hummingbirds class. “The message that they would like to send to the world is simply: stopping this isn’t someone else’s job, it won’t be ok if we just leave it. They can’t wait for the article to come out now!”