From the Principal

Remaking their own futures

This Friday, many students will join the worldwide action on climate change by refusing to go to school and marching in cities across the globe. Preshil will remain open on Friday, but we hope parents will support those of our students who wish to participate and who seek ways to take action. They will not be penalised by the School or their teachers.

As an adult it is hard to duck away from their accusation that our generation has failed them. We have failed to take our stewardship of the planet and its resources seriously and have left the next generations to shoulder the responsibility.

These accusations were powerfully delivered to the United Nations by Greta Thurnberg who uses the term ‘climate justice’ which connects climate change and sustainability to so many interrelated issues, such as the scarcity of finite resources and the injustice of systems that decide who gets to use, sell or exploit these precious and diminishing commodities.

In Australia we have stood by, allowing the issue of climate change to become a political football, cynically used to further the petty ambitions of politicians and protect the interests of the few.  

We are proud of the passion and the commitment of our students and very pleased to be able to offer the IB Diploma subject Environmental Systems and Societies. The subject offers an opportunity for senior students to develop an intensive understanding of environmental issues and brings into focus all of the IB student characteristics of global citizenship.

On Saturday 30 March, Preshil will host Remake the Future. This is an afternoon where students will learn to better understand the issues at stake over the next 12 years, as identified by the 2018 UN IPCC Report.

We are thrilled to have Dr Petra Tschakert, a coordinating lead author for the 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, together with a panel of prominent experts in connected fields. We are offering this event particularly for young adults who want to connect with positive action and engage with like-minded adults and other young people in the struggle to address this potentially catastrophic issue.

Kevin Borland Hall at Arlington offers limited space, so please secure your tickets on trybooking.  We know there is enormous interest in being a part of what I hope will be the inaugural occasion for an annual event, where our students can track the action and the changes over the next 12 years and look back on this year as a turning point.

In our world where leaders are proud to refer to themselves as ‘brick walls’ and where the glory of seizing or holding on to power is the driving force, rather than taking on the responsibility of custodians for the future, our young people need the courage to question.

And if we have failed our children, then the least we can do is to support them to take action.

Marilyn Smith

Principal

marilyn.smith@preshil.vic.edu.au