On the 26th January, a group of thirteen Year 9 students, as well as Miss Smith and Mr Bowes, travelled to the University of Bedfordshire (Bedford) to attend a climate conference. The summit contained several different events and lasted the better part of a school day. This was the first trip for the Eco, STEM and Model UN clubs, and was a brilliant way for us to apply the skills that we had been learning in our extra-curricular clubs. Not only was this an amazing learning experience, it gave us a chance to experience lessons in a university style!

This summit was a wonderful show of environmental key points, and was a fascinating display of the feats of Science, Geography and Engineering that are revolutionising the rate of climate change around us.

The event that took place was Bedfordshire University’s first KS3 Climate Change Conference and was fantastic! We were able to listen to a few climate  experts in the lecture theatre, and we even got to ask some questions to a panel of experts!

The day started with a speech from Dr David Jasarni, who gave us an insight into sustainable energies and problems they may face as well as the positive impacts they would have on the environment if they became mass use. This was then followed by a workshop that focused on the causes and effects of the polar ice caps melting, from a teacher at Herts University. After this, we headed back to the theatre where we were introduced to Serena Bashal, who was an ambassador for a sustainable energy company called SSE. She told us about her job and ways young people can become involved in climate change movements.

The penultimate activity of the day was a wonderful collection of displays from different companies, including how they manage their impact on the planet.

To finish the day, a panel was arranged consisting of people whose job is to manage and limit the harm that their company do to the environment and was a chance for a small Q&A to finish.

Before we left, we had to return completed climate quizzes to the organisers, a few were drawn to get some chocolate, and one of these winners was Evie Olson – Vandyke!

Some statistics from the day:

1. The UK is 14% reliant on wind energy.
2. As of 26/01/22, already 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 had been released into the atmosphere this year, not even 1 month!
3. 682 thousand tonnes of toxic chemicals have been released into the environment this year already! (as of 26/01/22).

To see more on global temperature increase visit www.showyourstripes.info (University of Reading).

Stanley Redfern, Evie Olson & Jack Geary, Year 9 students