On Thursday 11th January, Mrs Letheren and Mr Luis took students from St Edmund’s Chaplaincy Team and the St Edmund’s Eco Club to Alton Castle for a Laudato Si Chaplaincy Day. The day provided a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical; Laudate Deum, his follow-up Apostolic Exhortation; and our own call to stewardship. In addition, students were able to explore their school’s ‘Live Simply’ award, set up by CAFOD, and discuss ideas and plans with students from other schools on how to improve sustainability in their school communities and their own homes.

The team at Alton Castle were well-versed and well-prepared to test our students to think about the role of science and geography in sustainability and how technology will play a huge part in moving forward in sustainable development. They engage the students with scavenger hunts, quizzes and calculating our carbon footprints, giving students perspective on sustainability whilst also learning new facts and figures.

The day ended with the team informing the students about the Earthshot Prize, challenging them all to design their own entry for the competition and think about how it could improve the sustainability of our planet. The team supported the groups in articulating their ideas and asked difficult questions about their inventions, making them think of fuel sources, possible greenhouse gas emissions and the disruption of nature. Our students laid forward several innovative ideas, including new biofuels and machines that purified air and removed greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. They interacted and engaged with each other, the team and other students and had a great time.

We asked some students on the trip what they thought of the Chaplaincy day.

Kash K, Y9, said “It was really fun, I got to meet lots of new people. One fact I learned is that by 2050, there will be as much rubbish by weight in the ocean as fish.”

Another student said “I learned that our generation could create solutions and find more creative ways to solve global warming.”