RSM Children Become Plastic Changemakers
We were delighted to team up with the Breteau Foundation recently to trial an exciting Plastic Changemakers educational programme which was officially launched at a prestigious event at the Vue Cinema, Leicester Square on 20 September.
The Breteau Foundation was set up in 2013 as a non-profit organisation with a vision to provide access to quality education for all children, regardless of background or location.
Children want to see more responsible plastic use in their homes and communities and so the Foundation set about designing an exciting educational resource programme, Plastic Changemakers, in partnership with Mediawan, with the aim of inspiring over one million primary school children to become plastic changemakers.
The programme is structured as a school adventure consisting of a special 22-minute children’s cartoon episode of ‘Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir’ which will be broadcast on Disney in the UK (as well as on the Breteau Foundation website) and an education pack which has a comprehensive environmental work theme with lesson plans and activities.
We were excited to partner with them to trial the resources before the launch. Our own Education for Social Responsibility curriculum is woven into everything the children do and the challenges of climate change and sustainability are already at the top of the agenda for pupils here. We have previously partnered with educational resource producer Twin Science to help them launch packs which help to embed STEM for Sustainability into school curriculums so, we were keen to help the Breteau foundation with their exciting project too.
Our Year 3 children tested the educational resources and enjoyed the interesting and engaging activities. A number of RSM children took part in a promotional video filmed at school which was shown at the official launch.
Our Headmaster, Marcus Culverwell, attended the event and gave a short presentation to the gathered children. Afterwards, he said:
‘There are many ecological problems which will become challenges for the rising generations, so any educational resource that helps them to know how to tackle these problems and become change makers for the future, is absolutely brilliant and essential. The fact that the Breteau Foundation is providing these resources completely free of charge to any school, in any country, is amazing and means that funding is no restriction to this important aspect of education for young people. I am full of admiration for Sebastian Breteau and his vision and philanthropy.’
Emma Becker, former teacher and Executive Director at The Breteau Foundation said:
“We are so incredibly excited to see the Plastic Changemakers initiative launch. As a former teacher, I know first-hand how helpful this education pack will be to all educators, as all of the legwork has been taken out of the lesson planning process so that they can focus solely on delivering their lessons.”
Sebastian Breteau, Founder of The Breteau Foundation commented:
“Plastic pollution is one of the most urgent global environmental problems we face today. According to Defra, we can expect an alarming threefold increase in the amount of plastic flowing into the ocean between 2016 and 2040 unless action is taken now. By equipping children with the right knowledge, we believe we can kick-start a global movement on responsible plastic use. It is so important to address the topic of plastic pollution with the children of today, as they are the leaders of tomorrow.”
The Plastic Changemakers programme is now available free to any school globally who would like to educate their children about plastic pollution and how best to tackle it. Full details can be found here.