St Gregory the Great Catholic School is to launch one of Britain's first Student Summits to combat climate change.
Students from St Gregory the Great will be joined by students from the Oxford Academy for the first climate summit which is taking place on Monday 1 July at St Gregory the Great School from 4.30pm-6pm.
The summit, which has been organized by students from St Gregory the Great’s climate club aims to raise awareness about climate change, and to develop initiatives within schools to bring about change from the ground up. This will include lobbying OFSTED to develop curriculum focusing on climate change, and to make it part the OFSTED’s assessment criteria for schools.
The summit will also focus on what individual teachers and students can achieve in schools across Oxford.
The Lord Mayor of Oxford, Councillor Craig Simmons will be attending the first summit and will be delivering an introduction on climate change and discussing with groups how to progress their campaign on a national and local level.
The summit group intends to share their findings and good practice with other schools across the country. The summit organisers also wish to share their findings with the Oxford City Council’s citizens assembly, which will be the first citizens assembly in the UK to address the issue of climate change.
The summit will be held on a monthly basis with hosting taking place on monthly rotation between schools across Oxford.
Councillor Craig Simmons, Lord Mayor of Oxford said: "The younger generation will have to live with the consequences of the decisions that our politicians are making now. It is therefore imperative that we engage them, listen to them and learn from them"
"I would like to express my personal thanks to the pupils at St Gregory the Great School and Cllr David Henwood for making this Summit happen. I hope it inspires similar events across the UK and beyond.'’
Councillor David Henwood, representing Cowley Ward and schoolteacher at St Gregory the Great said; “If we wait for Ofsted to introduce change, we will simply wait too long, the responsibility to change is now upon us, and we need to embrace it now”.
“We genuinely want to make a difference, and welcome the opportunity to discuss with other students ‘how’ we can collectively make difference. If other secondary schools, private of public want to send a representative for the first summit, they are more than welcome to attend.”
Racky Wane, a year 8 student at St Gregory the Great said: “Our tutor group, inspired by Greta Thunberg want to take up the climate challenge baton, and believe discussion will develop a national and local plan that collectively we can deliver”.
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