Communities of Hope 2024-26
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Communities of Hope 2024-26

Communities of Hope 

Following a pilot year that took place between 2023 and 2024, Communities of Hope returns to schools in Tower Hamlets with a creative learning and critical thinking programme that spans across 4 years. Working with 10 schools, the hopes are that young people will be inspired and feel enabled to contribute to the local community to protect local people and spaces from the impact of the climate emergency. 

This project will provide tangible, positive ways for young people to explore and create change – for themselves, their communities and for the planet.  Our role will be to support the development of local youth voices that ‘think global, act local’, and connect them to local and global networks.   

 

This project is a 2-year project aimed at Year 8. The first year will be focussed on educators and the second year, working with students. 

The project will work with schools on three levels: 

1. Schools and school leadership 

  • Supporting schools through a climate friendly schools audit to understand how they’re currently reducing their impact on the climate 
  • Governor and Senior Leadership Team training on climate change and what schools can do. This will allow school leadership to cascade the information and learning.   

2. Educators 

  • A network of educators leading on this work in the borough. This will be a professional development opportunity and there will be emphasis on one of the educators being a person of colour. The purpose of the network will be to support educators with their learning, practice and skills in embedding climate justice through creativity into the curriculum.   
  • CPD opportunities including training with Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. 

3. Young people 

  • GLL will work with a class of Year 8 students in 10 secondary schools. Using creative storytelling and art, we will support students to better understand the impact of the climate emergency on global and local communities.  
  • The student workshops will lead onto a youth-led, co-produced artistic campaign which will reflect their learning and commitment to the climate emergency.  

 

Objectives   

  1. To empower and enable young people to make positive choices to fight the climate emergency and climate injustice by building awareness, knowledge and skills of this locally, nationally and internationally.   
  2. To provide knowledge and awareness to schools and students to make conscious choices which result in positive action to fight climate change.  

   

What to Expect  

  1. Climate Friendly Schools Audit: This will help whole school communities to understand climate change and how their school can take action against it.  
  2. Educator Network: to support educators who have very limited time and capacity, to help with their learning, practice and skills in embedding climate justice through creativity into the curriculum.   
  3. Governor and SLT Training: This will allow school leadership to cascade the information and learning.  
  4. Inschool workshops: 4 creative workshops for young people, facilitated by GLL and a locally based community artist. These workshops will lead to creating an artistic output. This will be a space and opportunity for young people to actively engage with their learning and reflect on their experiences in Tower Hamlets in terms of the impact of climate change in their locality. These creative workshops will also centre young people’s mental well-being to provide tools to support climate anxiety.   
  5. Teaching resource: Created by the GLL team after review of key areas with teachers. KS3 and 4 curriculum subject areas such as arts, humanities and sports. In year 1 and 3 – we will work with a cross-section of teachers from differing subject areas – therefore the resources created will have different subject focus areas.   
  6. Student exhibition and campaign:  This artistic output will be spotlighted on online Tower Hamlets platforms, submitted to be projected on the community-led outdoor space created by Toynbee Hall, exhibited at the Town Hall and sent to COP organisers to highlight the work that young people are doing in Tower Hamlets.  
  7. Youth-led conference at the Town Hall: Students will come together to discuss their work and reflections with each other as well as Council Leaders.   
  8. Evaluation: To capture the learning and impact of this project.   

Timeline  

2025 

  • January/February: Climate friendly audit – part one 
  • February: CPD 1 with educators 
  • April: Visit to Bethnal Green Nature Reserve 
  • March: CPD 2 with educators 
  • Late March: Governors and SLT training for all TH schools 
  • November: CPD 3 with educators 

2026 

  • January – April: 4 workshops in schools 
  • March: CPD 4 with educators 
  • April – May: schools’ exhibition 
  • June: exhibition at Town Hall 
  • June: Climate friendly audit – part two 

Are you a school in Tower Hamlets and would like to sign up to be a part of Communities of Hope? Register your interest by 14 November 2024

Please note that we have limited capacity on this occasion and will be selecting schools that have been chosen, and we will be confirming this by late November 2024. 

For more details, please contact Fatema at  fatema.zehra@towerhamlets.gov.uk

This project is made possible with funding from the Tower Hamlets Sustainability Team.

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