Eco school trip

Could spending time in the French mountains give the highly eco-aware children from Ashley School, Surrey, a new perspective on sustainability? Mais oui, says head teacher Richard Dunne

Speeding through the French countryside, it’s 3pm on a Monday afternoon in June. We left Paris over two hours ago and still have ninety minutes of our train journey to go before we start skirting the shores of Lake Annecy and arrive in the town of the same name. The final leg of our trip, which started at 6am UK time outside the school gate and included a coach ride up to St Pancras and a Eurostar train to Paris for lunch, will take this group of Year 6 children all the way to Chamonix and a week in the mountains.

Right now though it’s time for a French quiz!
‘What’s the name of the river that runs through Paris?’
‘Where exactly does the Tour de France finish?’
‘Can you name three French cheeses?’

The questions connect back to the topic enquiry of learning the Year 6 children researched during the first half of the summer term, focusing on France and Chamonix in preparation for this week away entitled ‘New Leaders in Sustainability’ (which is funded three ways: through parental contributions, parent fundraising and business sponsorship, in order to be as inclusive as possible). Our plans for the trip centre around three questions:

How do we promote individual well being?

How do we support and sustain each other’s well being?

How do we sustain the world in which we live?

A few hours later we are pulling up outside L’Hotel des Lacs, situated to the south of Chamonix town with stunning views across the lake to the mountains high above and the curved summit of Mont Blanc. It is an inspiring place to be. Our first meal of the stay is introduced by the restaurant chef, who highlights that every ingredient has been sourced locally and seasonally. It’s a message that resonates with the children as it’s something they have been thinking about back in school.

Day one: About us

The first full day in Chamonix is all about us and what sustains us. We start by sitting in a circle, listening to two-minute presentations about ‘who we are’ from each of the children and the adults in the group. During our week away we are all equal as far as possible, so the grown ups participate just as the young people do. It creates a very different dynamic; indeed over the week, we encourage the children to lead more and more. It’s amazing what happens when we ask them to take charge and believe that they can.

Following the presentations we explore individual well being. We think about our basic needs: eating and drinking well, resting well, being clean and safe. We explore our emotional needs: being valued, being supported, being loved. And we understand that balance in life is critical.

In the afternoon we walk the two minutes to Les Gaillands, the impressive rock face adjacent to the hotel. It’s a popular destination for local climbers and we are welcomed to the session by a team of experienced instructors who will guide us through the next three hours. Climbing on a real rock face is quite a challenge. We do a quick check on how we are feeling (nervous, excited, sick). Although many of the children don’t believe they will go very high, with support and belief from those around them and their own courage and determination, they reach far beyond their expectations.

That night we pack our bags for a stay in the mountains. The children have to limit their provisions to what they need, not what they want – they will be carrying their rucksack most of the next day so taking too much will make for a hard trek.

Day two: About each other

Backpacks on and with the theory of what makes a team work well, we head off for Chamonix train station to catch the funicular train up into the mountains. If the weather is fine, we’ll be able to go down into La Mer de Glace, a long tongue of a glacier that sweeps round from the summit close to Mont Blanc. It used to flow right down into the valley, but now it is shrinking dramatically and is a stark reminder of how our climate is changing. The afternoon is spent trekking across to the refuge, our resting place for the night. The mixed teams take it in turns to lead, and different roles are agreed and rotated throughout. It’s a challenging three and a half hours at high altitude and humours ebb and flow. It’s easy to become negative, but the children learn that this drains the spirits and they work hard to keep their team buoyant. In their reflections at the refuge about what sustains a team, one of them replies ‘It’s about seeing a need and responding to it’.

The refuge is a cosy stay. The evening meal is a chance for everyone to reinforce their learning from the day, serving one another warming soups, casseroles and apple tart in a family style setting around long tables, something the children have since challenged us to translate into practice back at school… with success.

Day three: About our world

On our third day we set our learning in a global context. Sitting high above the valley in their outdoor classroom, the children explore in teams how the Chamonix Valley could become more sustainable. It’s a critical part of all the learning at school. Every enquiry has a sustainability theme underpinning it, so enabling the children to apply this learning to a new place is an exciting challenge.

They have five specific areas to think about in the context of Chamonix: energy, water, food, waste and transport – and their creative responses are presented to members of the Chamonix Valley sustainability team later in the day.

For lunch we take the cable car to L’Aiguille du Midi at the top of the Alps. There the children look down into the valley and observe things from a very different perspective from the one they had when they started just two days earlier. Being able to see things in different ways enables us to grow in understanding and wisdom, to develop a different vision of the way we want to see our world.

Au revoir…

All too soon it’s Friday morning and time to head home. On our way back down through the Chamonix Valley we stop to visit a garden, Jardin des Cimes, which was the vision of a cooperative that wanted to regenerate the town after it had fallen on hard times. The workers who built the garden were the skilled-up young unemployed of the community. It was designed for all ages and abilities, and has wide, gentle paths and ‘sound walks’. There are sculptures moulded out of old pieces of machinery from the town’s former industrial days; wildflower meadows; a pond with metal shaped insects and stepping stones to tiptoe across; fruit orchards; food growing zones and multi-coloured bee hives. And at the top there is a lookout with stunning views across to Mont Blanc. On the ground beneath are thousands of pieces of crushed coloured glass that sparkle in the sun. It is a place where the community has come together to create something of true awe and wonder, a place of harmony. And we all agree: it is a fitting finale to our week’s learning.