Climate Strike Letter to Parents 27th February 2020

Thursday 27th February 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Bristol Climate Strike, 28th February 2020
As you will be aware, there is another planned climate strike at 11am on 28th February. As it now seems very likely that Greta Thunberg will attend the event in order to speak, this means that the event will have an even higher profile and therefore be of a larger scale than in previous instances. I wanted to reiterate to you the Academy’s position on the climate strikes and to offer you some of the insights afforded to me as Principal, in order that you can make decisions with your child that prioritise their safety and well-being, should you wish for them to be involved. As with previous events:

• Any student wishing to attend a climate strike (or any other action/event out of school) should have written consent from a parent to do so.
• The academy will choose to allow students to leave with this permission, but will not count this as attendance at school (ie students will have this as an absence). It is important for students to learn that such action does come at a cost – in this case missing out on learning and perhaps on rewards associated with attendance – and that as such they, and their families, must consider this to be a serious and significant issue.

The presence of Greta Thunberg at Friday’s protest is likely to prompt some students and families to consider attending this event when they may not have attended others. With this in mind, it may be useful for families to consider for themselves the following matters, and to take into account two pieces of communication – Appendices 1 & 2. The first is letter from Supt Andy Bennett of Avon and Somerset Police – this was sent to school leaders following a previous climate strike. The second is a message to schools from Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate.

It is important to note that for schools to authorise an absence for a child to attend the event would require schools to take a level of responsibility for student safety at such an event that is beyond their capability, given the nature of a large scale protest event. Hence absence will not be authorised. For parents and carers, who take responsibility for their child’s safety during an unauthorised absence, the following questions may aid preparation:

Questions for parents and carers to consider
1. Is your child mature and responsible enough to manage attendance at the event, including a range of possible unforeseen circumstances? How might you help them to understand the potential risks and opportunities through thorough discussion in advance of the event?
2. How will your child make decisions on the day about who to trust and whose advice to take?
3. How will your child remain in contact with you and with others? What is the back up plan should this communication method fail? In the advent of a loss of technology, does your child have a sound and safe plan?
4. How will your child travel to and from the event? Do they know how to manage in the event that the travel infrastructure fails or changes? Do they and you have a back up plan?
5. How will your child engage with social media? Are they able to ensure they are safe online as well as in person?
6. Will you or another responsible adult accompany your child in order to facilitate their safe navigation of the event?

As an academy, we are of course mindful of the current climate change debate and that it is mostly a live and healthy topic of conversation amongst our student body. We would therefore encourage all families to promote positive discussion and debate. We will continue also to adopt locally-led appropriate initiatives (assemblies, projects, group activities, etc) which ensure that pupils are aware of the international focus on this agenda and help to inform and educate our pupils on climate change and the environment.

Please be assured that our first priority for your child is that they remain safe – it is in this spirit that I have chosen to share with you the two communications below, and to offer some thinking and discussion points for you and your child ahead of tomorrow, in order to support your decision making.

Yours sincerely,
Jon Angell
Principal, City Academy