Published: Tuesday 28th January 2020 | 1.12pm
Cannock Chase Council’s Environment Team has been delivering environmental awareness sessions in primary schools across the District as part of a new engagement programme addressing environmental issues.
Officers from the Environmental Protection and Street Cleansing teams have been visiting schools and delivering a fun and informative session to raise awareness of the importance of looking after the environment and disposing of waste properly. Each school receives a 2 hour interactive session which includes a presentation, games and quizzes. The Council’s Community Hero has also been surprising the children and making a guest appearance!
Over the next few weeks the team will be visiting a total of 17 primary schools and will be engaging with over 1,200 children aged between nine and 11 years old.
This forms part of a wider environmental engagement project, ‘Binworld – 10 years on!’.
This eco-musical experience offers a great opportunity for using theatre to promote the messages of recycling `REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE ` as well as wider environmental issues such as climate change and more local issues such as littering, flytipping and dog fouling. It will reflect current issues as well as telling tell the story of Binworld, 10 years on!
The Council has commissioned Split Mask Theatre, a local drama group led by the Head of Year 7 at Kingsmead Academy to adapt and update the original Binworld script (2008) which was written by Majella Turner.
Working closely with Split Mask Theatre, the production will be rolled out across theatres in Cannock and Rugeley. Participating schools will be attending a performance in March.
Children attending the performance will also take part in a voting game which will introduce them into local democracy and the voting system.
Cllr John Preece, Leader of the Environment, said: “This environmental engagement programme will not only bring recycling and the way we dispose of waste to the forefront, but will also challenge people’s behaviour towards the environment they live in. It is also an ideal opportunity to help kick start residents into thinking about the climate emergency.
“The environmental awareness sessions are a great way of educating our young children about the importance of the environment as well as encouraging them to spread the message among their family and friends.
“The special musical will also enforce these messages with characters MC Crisp Rapper and Professor Poop taking the nine to 11-year-olds on a musical journey where they will learn more about issues like recycling, fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling.
“It’s great to see the number of schools that have signed up to this free initiative and it is hoped they can take some of their learning and embed it within their own schools”.