A group of school children recently enjoyed an afternoon with their local MP

Sir Gary Streeter visited Modbury Primary School to learn more about the climate change work that is taking place there.

In a year long project funded by the Royal Society, the children are developing a practical approach to climate activism by monitoring their own climate impact. They hope to prove that they could reduce their schools carbon emissions through the installation of solar panels or a wind turbine.

They are measuring solar radiation and wind speed as well as electricity and oil use and are using these data to calculate their school’s carbon emissions and to see how much they could offset them if they had a source of renewable energy on site.

The teacher leading the project, Katharine Pemberton, commented: “A couple of years ago I noticed how engaged the children were in the news stories of climate activism. They were inspired by seeing other young people speaking to government and sharing their views. I wanted the children in our school to learn how to try to be part of a solution rather than just flagging up discontent”.

She added: “We were delighted that Mr Streeter agreed to come and hear about project. The pupils wanted him to share the message that the children of Devon are pro-active with regard to climate change.”

As well as listening to the pupils explain their project and results so far, Sir Gary explained his role as an MP and helped the children understand more about democracy and government. Before he left, he helped them build small wind turbines to allow them to investigate how the wind speed varied across the school site.

Sir Gary said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Modbury Primary School and was very impressed by the knowledge and passion of Years 5 and 6 and their teacher.  The future of our planet is in very good hands and I will do all I can to make sure their message of concern is acted upon by current leaders.”