Shoreham children organise protest to raise awareness of animal extinction

Pupils at Swiss Gardens Primary School wanted to raise awareness of the plight of animals like polar bears across the world.

They organised a protest at the school on Friday, February 6, and made their own banners. They learned a protest chant and went on a march around the school to help highlight their cause.

Year-five pupil Emily Burrow said: "Our protest outside our school is to help raise awareness on animal extinction. This is something that me and friends are all passionate about.

"I am doing this to raise awareness for the Arctic, specifically polar bears, because the sea ice is melting and they are endangered and need help.

"Some of my friends are interested in helping other endangered species, like the orangutan, which is also declining because of habitat loss. This is because of the way that humans don't protect the environment.

"We want people in our community to know how much we care and to think about the things that they can do to help save the world - things like walking or riding to school, avoiding long car journeys, buying products without plastic and buying food responsibly."

Headteacher Naomi Doble said year-six pupils had been studying the book The Last Polar Bear and the message had been spread around the school to other year groups.

The children spoke to East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tom Rutland about it when he visited the school and they came up with the idea of holding a protest.

Emily said: "Our school encourages us to walk or ride to school and we have a designated School Street. We spoke to Tom Rutland, our MP, when he visited and he was really keen on the idea of our protest."

Emily and her friends also arranged to sell homemade biscuits to raise money for WWF, the world's leading independent conservation organisation.