CHILDREN of a year four class in West Cornforth Primary School staged a protest against climate change on their school field

Walking out of the classrooms, the children could be heard chanting: "What do we want? A clean planet, when do we want it? Now,’ and: "Stop pollution in our seas, save our animal species, keep our forrest for their homes, protect all of the biomes".

The protest came as part of their studies into habitats and the environment.

Teacher Victoria Bailey said: “The students were passionate about the topics and had been inspired by Greta Thunberg.”

The class had studied global warming from air pollution, to plastic pollution and the rising sea levels and its effects on wildlife such as polar bears and sea turtles.

Pupils produced their own banners and placards which they had been working on for the last two weeks,

Miss Bailey added: “ The protest brought the class together as a team to give themselves a future.”

They also announced a list of demands for the headteacher to change the school to make it more eco friendly.

The pupils wanted:

*Recycling bins in every classroom

*Plants to grow in the school field to make a habitat animals

*An ‘Eco Kid’ for every classroom to turn off any electrical appliances such as lights and computer monitors that are not being used.

Year four Pupil Sam Maddison said: “We don’t want the sea levels to rise – it will destroy the nice coastal areas, our planet, our choice.”

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, who attended the protest, said: “Its absolutely brilliant that the school is getting the children to start thinking seriously about the planet, pollution and its impact on their generation.”

The school is hoping to run for an eco award in the future and hopes that this protest has inspired other students to think about the climate and their impact on the environment.

At the same time a similar protest was taking place in Durham’s Market place, by YouthStrike4climate change and a talk by Laura Pidcock MP for West Durham.

There will be a bigger national protest by YouthStrike4climate change next week. The Durham protest was brought forward due to the Miners Gala.

As part of their protest the children wrote poems and speeches that they read to the crowds that had gathered on the fields.

Poem on Deforestation By Lily-Mae Dent

O’ forefathers, we can’t breathe well!

The air you left has a dirty smell.

You cut all the trees, timber to just sell.

The land polluted, how to dwell?

Were you unwise, not to foretell?

The gift you gave, is sorry like hell.

O’ forefathers, we can’t breathe well.

O’ forefathers, we can’t breathe well.

Climate Change By Vienna Hutchison

I will be speaking about climate change. Climate change is a quite horrible thing that some terrible monsters do. People burn fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases into the world. This makes our ozone layer thicker and stops heat from leaving our earth. I have a dream that one day we’ll stop being reckless and try to make a difference. I have a dream that we will stop driving destructive demons and embrace a more echo-friendly, healthy environment. The polar ice-caps are melting because of us. The future of our world depends on us. Let’s not blow it. Thank you.