Climate emergency

Pupils at Bow School in Tower Hamlets helped devise, design and paint a massive mural by the side of a busy dual-carriageway, used by thousands of motorists each day.

Featuring a face with Earth reflected in the eyes, the students’ message is: “If not now, when?”

Waleed Chowdhury, who took part in the mural workshops, explained: “The person on the painting represents multiple people – you can’t tell if they’re a specific gender or a specific skin tone. In the background, it has planet Earth and that’s to show we should be taking care of our own planet.”

Fellow pupil Manha Hossain said: “Our world is beautiful and if we don’t take care of it, it could lead to disaster.”

Around 30 students of mixed abilities and interests from years 8 to 11 contributed

(From left) Year 9 pupils Hetal Vijan, Molly Carroll, Waleed Chowdhury, Timi Fakeye and Manha Hossain with the mural at Bow School. See front cover of Educate PHOTO by Jess Hurd

ideas and designs for the mural, working with Paint the Change, a social justice and street art organisation with projects in many countries.

Hodo Mohamud, enrichment co-ordinator at Bow School, said the students were passionate about the artwork. “Some came back after school and invited their friends to paint with them,” she said.

“I’m very proud of them. They are leaving a legacy; they have taken action through art.”

The workshops were led by Paint the Change street artist ATMA and youth mentor Efe Ezekiel who gave the students the chance to air their concerns about the environment and other issues such as mental health, racism and crime.

n Watch the mural taking shape and hear pupils’ views at paintthechange.me/past-projects n Turn to page 50 for more on climate change

The United Nations climate summit, COP26, hosted by the UK in Glasgow, runs from 31 October to 12 November. n Schools packs with case studies and resources to use in class:

n Climate in the Classroom, a virtual climate education summit, hosted by the University of Reading on 15 September: reading.ac.uk/en/

n Great Big Green Week from 18-26 September, celebrating action on climate change: greatbiggreenweek.com n Climate and Employment Proof our Work, a global day of action on 22 September organised by the International Trade Union Confederation: petitions.ituc-csi.org/

n Global climate strike on 24 September, co-ordinated by the youth-led campaign group Fridays for Future: #uprootthesystem n NEU member Ed Stubbs has written a guide on how to declare a climate emergency at your school or college based on his and colleagues’ work at Morpeth School in east London:

n The union is planning a season of climate change sessions over the coming months. Webinars from 9-11 November are expected to include themes such as climate change anxiety, Eco-Schools, sustainability, and how to incorporate climate change into lesson plans:

n The NEU has its own climate change network: see page 50 and

n NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney has contributed to an Inset training session on climate breakdown recorded by the UK Schools Sustainability Network for secondary school staff CPD: youtube.

n Campaigns group Teach the Future, led by students from across the UK, has a teachers’ network where educators can share resources and communicate with colleagues interested in climate education: