Insights | Teaching the importance of sustainability in year 5
The Lower Prep humanities curriculum helps pupils to develop a deep, secure understanding of a range of important topics. Through learning, puples in Shanghai international school develop their vocabulary and ability to articulate and build on their understanding over time.
Antigone: In my research, I realised that a lot of CEOs have great speeches about preserving our environment, but they do not take much action. Sometimes it feels like we are doing more to solve these problems than they are.
But, at Wellington, we are confident that our pupils are capable of much more than simply articulating their understanding. We believe that for a humanities curriculum to be truly successful, it must empower students to not only understand but to utilize their growing knowledge. Pupils must realise that what they are learning is important and has real-world significance.
Elise: Since doing this project, my sister and I have become more aware of how much electricity we use. So our mother bought as a solar-powered light. It gives us the perfect amount of light for our regular midnight chats.
During the year 5 topic ‘Black Gold’ we have planned a range of experiences to open the children’s eyes to the relevance of what they are learning.
First, we welcomed a visitor from Jaguar Land Rover, who spoke to our pupils about the sustainability of electric cars and why their company are making developments in this area.
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Following this, all year 5 pupils participated in a debate in which groups of children representing one of four countries defended and promoted their country’s progress since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Queenie: The Upper Prep pupils helped us on this project quite a bit. They rehearsed with us by acting as Mrs Qiao and Ms Prescott. They also taught us how to present ourselves more professionally and to express our ideas clearly.
Finally, inspired by young climate activist Greta Thunberg, the pupils delivered speeches about what they have learned about sustainability, what it makes them think and feel and what responsibilities they believe they have as citizens. One pupil from each class was selected based on their speech to attend a meeting with Ms Prescott and Mrs Qiao. There, they had the chance to present a collective speech and engage in a lively discussion.
By facilitating these opportunities, we hope that our pupils will increase their knowledge of the world around them, make connections, engage in meaningful discussion and see the real-life relevance of their learning.
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