THE CLIMATE AND NATURE SUMMIT - PRIMARY & POST PRIMARY
Tuesday, 12th October 2021 at 7 p.m.
Link to the Panel Discussion Below
Description: The Climate and Nature Summit is a call to action for primary and post-primary schools. The Irish Schools Sustainability Network wanted to hold a summit at a time when world leaders were coming together to accelerate climate action.
In this session we will talk about the next UN Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP26 and we will outline what happened in the Paris Agreement.
You'll understand how the Climate and Nature Summit is organised for primary and secondary schools and you can use this as an opportunity to gain some leadership experience. This is an opportunity to brainstorm with other schools and think about how we can make the most of this week and continue on our journey to positively influence our pupil's, colleagues, and wider community.
Speakers:
Aoife Denton has been a Deputy Principal in Ardscoil na Mara in Tramore, Co Waterford for the past 4 years. Trained in Mater Dei Institute of Education and received a Bachelor of Religious Science. Aoife taught Religion and History for 15 years. In her career she has been part of many initiatives that promote Global citizenship, including running the Peace and Justice group, Immersion projects, working with Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders and World Wide Global schools. She has been an advocate for sustainability in her school for many years and has a strong belief that education for sustainability needs to be at the core of the curriculum in any school.
Assumpta O’Neill is the Director of Waterford Teachers’ Centre which is one of 21 full-time centres and 9 part-time centres that operate within the network of Education Support Centres in Ireland (ESCI). On behalf of the national support services in education and the Department of Education (DE), Education Support Centres organise and facilitate the delivery of programmes for teacher professional development. Education Support Centres (ESCs) also organise a varied local programme of professional learning activities for school communities. ESCI is delighted to be supporting the delivery of the CPD element of the Climate and Nature Summit and looks forward to this exciting initiative and to continue their support for CPD in Sustainability.
Codie Preston is a Science and Biology Teacher in Rockbrook Park School who has a special interest in Wildlife Education. He has a number of years’ experience helping to run nature based programmes in his own school as well as other youth groups and GAA clubs.
Laura Ní Mháille is a Primary School Teacher in North Dublin NS Project with over 15 years’ experience in a variety of settings. She has a keen interest in promoting sustainability in primary schools, believing strongly in the role outdoor learning can play in connecting children with and inspiring action towards a more sustainable future. As a forest school leader she connects these principles across the curriculum and has recently completed research into the role inquiry-based learning in the outdoors can play in promoting student action.
Patrick Kirwan worked as an Epidemiologist before his transition into Teaching. While working in disadvantaged schools in London Patrick developed a bespoke award winning model for a whole school nature curriculum. In school and community settings, he uses nature as a conduit to foster wellbeing, leadership skills, confidence, resilience, environmental awareness and climate action. In March 2021 he founded The Irish Schools Sustainability Network (ISSN). The network brings together teachers and students from different schools to foster climate and nature conversations. These schools work together as a community on joint initiatives, they share best practice, and they work towards pushing sustainability to the top of the educational agenda. Patrick believes that we need to build networks within and across sectors, working as one, to tackle the climate and ecological emergency. You can follow Patrick on twitter @growgardeners or catch up with ISSN @IrishSchSusty
