Teaching Sustainability in Schools

Sue has an imaginative and interactive approach to teaching students about sustainability and she has achieved a lot in a short space of time. The students were engaged throughout the module and benefited hugely from it. Sue was always positive and enthusiastic and built a good rapport with students.

Off the success of Newparks Young Environmentalist Winners in 2017, Newpark decided to run the Susan Adams Education for Sustainability programme with our transition year students in the 2017/18 academic year. Sue worked with 6 groups throughout the year transitioning our school to become Ireland's first plastic free school. Throughout the year students were engaged with various environmental projects from rising sea levels to the plastic crisis that not only raised environmental awareness within the school community but that impacted on our local community also. The students benefited greatly from the classes as they were encouraged to learn and develop new skills such as community engagement and running campaigns.

Susan delivered a sustainability module to a mixed group of students from 4th-5th class in the 2016/17 academic year. The students involved with the Susan Adams Education for Sustainability programme were given the opportunity to peer educate their classmates, teachers and parents about the effects and solutions on the plastic crisis. Each student was personally stretched getting involved with the campaign through an awareness stall at the school sale, a play, a presentation to the Caithaoirleach in Dun Laoghaire County Hall and as overall winners of the Young Environmentalist Awards in 2017. I would have no hesitation recommending Susan to other schools and would very much like to see her efforts supported on an ongoing basis.