Assemblies this week have focused on Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist who came to international attention in 2018, aged just 15. The idea of teenagers being politically engaged – feeling they have a voice, and can make a difference – is especially important given the government’s plan to give 16-year olds the right to vote in all future UK elections.
Previous years have focused on heroines like Mary Seacole and Ada Lovelace, whilst one of our Houses (Seward) is named in honour of the influential Romantic poet Anna Seward, who lived most of her life in Lichfield. This year’s focus on Greta Thunberg, the youngest recipient of Time’s Person of the Year – aged just 16 – reflects the strong environmental theme running through many of our Focus Weeks.
Mrs Grigg’s assembly mentioned other figures, such as Bella Lack. Bella is a British environmental activist, ambassador for the RSPCA, and author of The Children of the Anthropocene – a collection of stories from young people across the world about how climate change is affecting their lives.
Being on the edge of Cannock Chase, the UK’s smallest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, there are plenty of opportunities locally for our young people to access green spaces – and perhaps volunteer to help conserve and improve them. These include: Chasewater Country Park, Cannock Chase National Landscape, Shugborough Estate (National Trust), Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England.
More broadly, over 800 organisations are in membership of SCVYS (Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services) and their database can be searched here.
Mark Drury, Headteacher, said: “The school’s Focus Weeks are a really effective way to help deliver PSHE as well as other key themes and important topics. Heroines and heroes don’t always have to be figures from the distant past, and it’s good instead to put the spotlight on figures who have achieved a lot, despite still only being in their early twenties.”
