Autumn 1

We had a special afternoon this half term to focus on our courageous advocacy project where we aim to 'Free the River Wye' from its culvert. We began by reminding ourselves of the work we did in Year 5 to raise awareness about uncovering the River Wye in High Wycombe. Then we looked ahead to the future, thinking about the next steps we can take to make real change. To share our hopes, we each wrote a vision statement, describing what we want to achieve and what we envision for High Wycombe in the future, once the River Wye is flowing freely again.

Autumn 2

This half term, we explored how Christians are called to protect and speak up for God’s creation. Through our Butterfly Curriculum and Forest School work, we learned about the River Wye, the impact of human actions on local environments, and the Christian responsibility to care for the world around us.

We discussed real-world issues affecting the river, including the culverting of sections of the River Wye, and considered how our voices could be used to bring about positive change. As part of this, we worked collaboratively to develop and refine key messages we felt were important to share with decision-makers, forming the basis of a collective statement to be taken forward as a petition to the local council.

Spring 1

This term we worked together to create a petition on the Buckinghamshire County Council website. This is what our petition says:

We the undersigned petition the council to Free the river Wye from it's culvert underneath the centre of High Wycombe to support our community, develop our economy, and protect wildlife.

We believe that this will help High Wycombe to grow it's economy by attracting more tourists. Moreover, by opening up the river Wye, more wildlife will be able to build habitats and survive.
We do not think it would be feasible for the river to be completely uncovered as that would mean that roads and houses would have to be dug up. However, we do think that partially uncovering it will have many benefits to our community.
One thing that we have considered is that the river needs to be cleaned up in order to make it habitable and attractive. Therefore, we believe that regular clean ups and adding more rubbish bins will be needed and encouraged by us.
If this petition is passed, we will then make it our priority to ensure that the river is kept clean and healthy, and that the wildlife is cared for correctly and is able to reproduce and develop.

We also created posters to support our petition.

We are hoping for lots of support.

 Spring 2 - Lent Challenge

This half term, our Courageous Advocacy project has focused on raising awareness and inspiring action through our whole-school Lent Challenge. We invited every class, along with our parents and carers, to contribute a personal statement of hope, care, or commitment for our community and environment. These were written onto strips and added to our growing “River of Hope.” We also got parents and carers to create their own statements of hope, making this a truly shared project that reflects the voices of our wider school community. The individual contributions have now been brought together to create a striking River of Hope display, proudly showcased within the school for all to see.

Alongside this, our advocacy work has continued to gain momentum beyond the school gates. We are delighted to have been contacted by the Bucks Free Press, who are keen to visit and interview us about our project and petition, which gathered 99 signatures in support of our cause. We are now awaiting a response from the council.