On Wednesday 6^th June the eco-committee and a number of high-achieving year 8 geography students attended a Keep Wales Tidy event for eco-schools, based on raising awareness of ocean litter, both by equipping students with the knowledge about ocean litter and by going through how they can take action themselves and in their own schools. The day ended with us all making our way back past the barrage feeling inspired, ready to make changes in our own lives and take action in Fitzalan to reduce plastic waste and go for the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award in 2018-2019.

 The day started with each student getting a free reusable water bottle and a hunt around the tent to identify true and false statements about ocean litter, which the students got involved in straight away. The morning activities by the Keep Wales Tidy Team resulted in Fitzalan students getting a shout-out for their eager participation. There was then a guest appearance from 'the only heavy metal marine biologist’ who, whilst playing rock music, took students through the wonderful and interesting creatures found in the oceans and how we need to protect them. The morning break found students making their way around displays on reusable items in the household, talking with Cardiff University students about  fossils and competing in competitions such as ‘how many microbeads can you find in the sand in two minutes’. One of our students even won the competition on finding the most microbeads! Back in the tent for session 2 students were then encouraged to get active, with inspiring stories from students their age campaigning and making a difference to the environment of planet Earth. Students had to vote on which campaigner was their favourite. After lunch students actively got involved in workshops run by people such as Skye Academy, Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Science and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. In particular the Welsh Water workshop found two of our students on stage showing what should and should not go into toilets! As though all of this wasn’t enough, the last part of the afternoon found students getting a tour of the Volvo Ocean Race Village and participating in various activities around ocean litter. One student signed a campaign, and all the students then made a ‘Sky News’ video saying what they would do to protect the oceans and reduce plastic use. All students said how much they enjoyed the day and how much they learnt about the oceans and the importance of protecting them.