Mrs McPhail (Geography Teacher)

Wednesday afternoon saw A Level and IB Diploma geographers gather to log-in to a Climate in Action conference. This fitted in well with the IB specification where Climate change is studied in detail at Standard Level and at A Level where the issue is taught in the Water and Carbon Cycle Unit.

As we listened to the talks, students could log in and interact with live polls as well as the speakers encouraging them to submit questions. Grace and Emily were lucky enough to have theirs read out!

First up was Professor Chris Jackson talking to us about the Geological record of Climate Change. It really made us think about ‘time’ and what the world would have looked like millions of years ago. His talk was inspiring and many of the girls were buzzing after that.

Professor Sarah Bridle then spoke about how different foods contribute to climate change. Suddenly those lattes from Costa didn’t seem such a good idea.

Mr Jaideep Gupte was number three – notes were being taken rapidly as he talked about sustainable cities – something that at both IB and A level students are well aware of. He made us think that many of our smart cities are really still struggling in 2021 with much of the world unable to get ‘online’. Building Smart sustainable cities from the bottom up was his main theme, something that resonated with our geographers.

And finally, David Saddington drew the conference to a close with a focus on COP26 which will be held in Glasgow in November posing the question Good COP, bad COP? He made us think about what success at the conference could mean.

All the students left feeling they had learnt a lot and could take away with them much to think about.

Grace Gaffey (Lower Sixth) said: “I really enjoyed the wide variety of talks discussing lots of different aspects of climate change, including our diets and how we can build sustainably. It was also great that we could ask questions to the experts!

Matisha Joshi (Lower Sixth) said: “I enjoyed learning about the different ways in which we as individuals can help to make a difference with climate change, from the smallest things like picking up litter or eating more vegetables.”

Joanna Solomon (Lower Sixth) said: “The Climate in Action talks were varied and in depth. I learnt about many different aspects of climate change, from scientific to social, and I enjoyed it very much!”