Find out what a morning of pupil power looks like…

This November, almost 15,000 pupils from across the nation joined us for a morning of Pupil Power! Find out what we got up to…

To get pupils’ brains and bodies ready for a morning of environmental learning and action, we had the amazing Ice Man, Wim Hof himself, take us through some of his energising routines:

We then kicked things off with Session One which focused on ‘getting connected’. With pupils tuning in from across the UK, it was important that we recognised everyone’s unique connections to nature, what those might look like and why they’re all important. To help us with this, we heard from some inspiring speakers and how their unique connections had empowered them to take action to protect the environment, including the Wave Wahines, Black to Nature, Charlie Young and the Home Counties Surf Club.

Let’s see what they said:

After a short break we dove into Session Two where we explored the problem of plastic pollution. We looked at the positive action Surfers Against Sewage are taking to tackle the issue, before heading all the way to Cornwall with biologist and BBC Springwatch presenter, Gillian Burke, and fungi expert and nature enthusiast, Ali Mckernan. From a city storm drain to a sewer outlet on the beach, Gillian and Ali followed the journey of single-use plastic items right the way from source to sea, and the different environments and wildlife it effected as it travelled through. To understand this further we went back to Naomi in the studio where we all took part in the food chain challenge game (Surfers Against Sewage’s version of rock paper scissors!) to see how single-use plastic could also travel through food chains.

We then sent pupils on a mission to hunt down single-use plastic items in their schools.

Let’s see what they found and where they found it:

Before jumping into the final session, Wim Hof took us through some powerful breathing exercises to help us refocus. We then took a short hop skip and jump across the globe (virtually) to find out how we could turn learning into action. We started in Wales with young activist Skye Neville, and learnt how she’d successful campaigned to remove plastic packaging from magazine toys. We then sailed to the Netherlands to meet the Plastic Soup Surfer, Merjin Tinga, who showed us how he built a surfboard out of single-use plastic bottles and wind-surfed all the way to parliament in London to campaign for a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Lastly, we flew across the continent to Nigeria, where youth activist and founder of the African U-recycled initiative, led us into the next activity on how we to use the power of our voices to make change. Pupils then set off on an activity where they sent a postcard to their local politicians!

Last but not least, BAFTA award winning animator, Greg McLeod, helped pupils to create their own storyboard on plastic pollution and pupil power. (Keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be choosing a winning storyboard to be turned into a full animation by Greg himself!).

We wrapped up the morning by asking pupils what they are going to do to continue to take positive action in their schools and communities, this is what they said:

We missed it! Can we still take part?

Absolutely! We’ve recorded the full event in case you weren’t able to take part on the day, if you wanted to re-watch parts of it or to complete any activities you didn’t get to finish. Whatever it may be, you can access the recording below as well as the Assembly worksheets and resources.

Click here to access the full recording 

Click here to access the worksheets and resources

Remember, you can use the completed worksheets as evidence to go towards completing objectives on the Plastic Free Schools programme. So you get a class of fired-up campaigners AND completed objectives. DOUBLE WIN.

Submit your evidence here

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Here at Surfers Against Sewage, we are continually inspired and motivated by schools across the UK who are taking brave steps to eliminate problem plastics from their premises.

It is no mean feat. There are many barriers in their way but Plastic Free Schools is a network of over 3,700 schools with a wealth of experience in addressing plastic pollution.

The Pupil Power Assembly is a reminder that everyone’s voice matters and that everyone has the power to make a difference.

Sign up to Plastic Free Schools