The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021.

In the spirit of COP26 East Hampshire District Council hosted its own climate conference, in partnership with Damian Hinds MP on Friday 8 October. Our Lower School Eco Warrior team represented Alton School in the exhibition area and two of our senior pupils spoke in the main auditorium about their environmental Hypatia projects. You can hear Poppy and Rose talking about their projects at 2:17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJiatxF5quk.

Michelle, Beatrix and Sebastian, our Eco Warrios, were interviewed on BBC Solent, aired on Monday 11 October and found themselves on air between Prince Charles and Damian Hinds MP! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09w3qnb at 2:10.

What are we doing at Alton School?

At Alton School we feel strongly about the impact of what we do on our environment. As individuals and as a school we are looking at what we can do to make changes to our daily habits.

Lower school Eco Warriors

In our Lower School, we have a team of Eco Warriors who are leading the way in making positive changes in school, and also helping to make a difference in the local community. They did a litter pick in Anstey Park last term and are looking forward to more activities this year.

#MakeTheChange – The Big Draw

Across our Nursery and School we are interested in the impact art can have in changing perceptions about the environment.

This year the Big Draw festival has the theme Make the Change – using drawing to communicate our ideas and expressing how we can live in balance with the world around us. Across the whole school, pupils have designed a butterfly to be a symbol of change. These were displayed at COP26 and are now available to view in our School Foyer.

To tie in with the butterfly theme, our Sixth Formers worked with Reception and Year 1s to make a Very Hungry Caterpillar – currently on display on the Bridge

We have been working with local feeder schools and our own pupils to explore how we can used recycled items to create art and change perceptions.  We have 4 visiting primary schools join us from the local area.

Our pupils have been experimenting with recycled plastic in a number of ways – to make an impressive butterfly sculpture and even design a stunning dress made entirely from recycled plastic.

Poppy’s Recycled Dress

Displayed in the school Foyer is the dress that I made as my Hypatia extended learning project. My inspiration for this was the waste and pollution that the fashion industry is generating. By making a dress entirely out of recycled plastic, I wanted to show two things – just how much plastic we use but also how that plastic can be reused positively. Poppy, Year 10

“The State of the Planet” by Rose

I find it frustrating that people can be so ignorant about the damage we are causing to our environment. We talk a lot about the issues, but we need to actually do something. I recently did a project at school called “The State of our Planet”. This gave me the opportunity to do some research and suggest some ideas about what more we could be doing. I hope that the global attention that the COP26 event will attract really will make a difference. Rose Year 9