Guardians of Creation
Guardians of Creation is a group of pupils from year 7, 8, 9 and 10 who have dedicated some time to becoming Official Guardians of Creation. As a school we were approached by Ruth Walbank from St Mary’s University to take part in her research project centered around the Laudato Si, an encyclical written by Pope Francis encouraging us to “Care for our Common Home” and Catholic Social Teachings.
Our pupils have spent some time in after school sessions learning about the Laudato Si before working in small groups to research, plan and present a mini-sustainability project on a topic of their choice. The groups were asked to focus on how they could improve an area of our school community, such as paper source, food waste and recycling. The pupils presented to Miss White and Ruth, who will use their projects to inform her research paper.
These pupils were invited to the Laudato Si Summit at the Laudato Si Centre at Wardsley Hall in July 2022 where they had the opportunity to meet with pupils from other schools and discuss some of the actions they have taken since starting the project. We were able to take part in lots of activities throughout the day, such as meditating with nature and planting a tree dedicated to the Our Lady’s community. We were also approached by BBC Radio Manchester to be interviewed on why we are so passionate about caring for God’s Creation. The interview was broadcasted at 7:11am on Sunday 17th July on BBC Radio Manchester. We also featured on the Salford Diocese Website and a number of other Catholic news publications (links can be found below).
https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/school-environment-summit/
https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45136
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/15720/catholic-bishop-calls-for-urgent-action-on-climate-crisis
The Our Lady’s community is very proud of these pupils for giving up their time to focus on developing their faith and applying it to a passion of theirs, with the hopes of creating change in our common home.
We will continue to put their plans and changes into action over the coming years as we take time to dedicate to improving the environment.
Lord, grant us the wisdom to care for the earth. Help us to act now for the good of the future and all your creatures. Help us to become instruments of a new creation, Founded on the covenant of your love. Amen