Wakefield pupils join students from across North of England at Climate Change sustainability conference at Leeds United's Elland Road football ground

Each secondary academy within Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) sent representatives from their student council to take part in the Student Voice Conference.

Participants were given the opportunity to network with those across the Trust, hear from experts on sustainability and share their thoughts and ideas about how they can tackle climate change at the event at the stadium in Elland Road.

Ideas included the banning of plastic cutlery; the launching of a litter-picking programme and the reduction of plastic equipment, specifically pens.

One of the leading events of the day included a panel consisting of the Mayor of Wakefield, Councillor David Jones; Dr Amanda Maycock, a professor at the University of Leeds who specialises in environmental studies; the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer Sir Martyn Oliver; and Paul Laird, Associate Director of Humanities for the OGAT.

The panel addressed questions submitted by students across the Trust on how they can do more to embed sustainability into their everyday practices.

The conference also featured a discussion on the next steps for the Trust’s student representatives, including deciding on other issues they want to tackle. Alongside their commitment to sustainability, the students are looking forward to working together to help raise confidence in young people at each of their academies.

Niamh Longbottom, Science Teacher at Outwood Academy Hemsworth and organiser of the Student Conference, said: “The conference was a massive success, and it was truly wonderful to see our students so enthusiastic to share their thoughts and ideas about sustainability with their peers.

“Our student voice team came up with some excellent ideas on how we as a Trust can take action to tackle climate change and I look forward to seeing them implement these solutions.”

Sir Martyn Oliver, Chief Executive Officer of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, added: “The student representatives at the conference did a fantastic job at showcasing unwavering commitment and passion for wanting to take real action to tackle climate change, and I am confident the solutions they came up with together will have a great impact.”