Pupils of Darlington's Wyvern Academy pupils are making the effort for change by lending a hand on National Big Spring Clean Day as part of the campaign to keep Britain tidy.

Year 7 students and staff joined members of the local community to clean up Cocker Beck River, as part of the national campaign: Great British Spring Clean and Big School Clean 2023.

This is the campaign’s eighth consecutive year, but this time they wanted to do something slightly different for the #LitterHeroes by encouraging more and more young people to help save the environment.

Alongside more than 300,000 people across the country, each pupil and staff member from Wyvern pledged to pick up a bag or more of rubbish, helping to set a good example and instill a care for the environment to every student who took part.

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Wyvern also used this fantastic event to help the students log new skills into their 'Experience Passports.'

The Experience Passport is an extracurricular activity log which the school have created to support students in building a collection of transferable skills and knowledge.

These will be vital for their personal development as well as helping with potential career aspirations during the five years they are at the academy. 

Here, students gained knowledge and skills about being active citizens in their local community and how small actions can impact the environment at local and global levels.

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Rebecca Smith a Year 7 Pupil at Wyvern Academy, as part of Concilium Academies, said: “I think it is important to look after our local community.

"I care about the environment as keeping it litter free helps the wildlife, which is really important. A plus side is that I can use it as an activity for my Experience Passport. I am also writing an article for our pupil newspaper as part of my co-curricular club about this event.”

Owen Inglis, Headteacher at Wyvern Academy, as part of Concilium Academies, said: “Today, climate change is so important to all of us at Wyvern Academy. Cleaning up our local environment take us one step closer to saving the world our students will one day lead.

“At Wyvern we want each and every student to receive as many equal opportunities as possible and encourage them to experience things they haven’t ever before.

“Taking part of a national campaign and being involved in something so big and important is a great way for this to happen.”