THE FUTURE of our planet is in safe hands – if the commitment of caring children at an independent school in Liphook is anything to go by.

Pupils at Highfieled and Brookham Schools showed not only maturity beyond their years in terms of awareness and knowledge of the plight of our home planet from the ever-growing threat posed by climate change, but also a steely determination to put things right.

And this was ably demonstrated by the young eco warriors at both pre-prep and prep schools on Earth Day – a special day set aside in 1970 to “diversify, educate and activate an environmental movement worldwide” which has carried on ever since.

In a change to regular lessons, the children embarked on a series of day-long green activities aimed at tackling climate change and protecting the natural environment; everything from the creation of colourful mini-Earths by the pre-prep’s youngest cohort, to be hung on trees in the nursery at Brookham, to the design and production of workable wind turbines by the enquiring minds of young engineers in Year 8 at Highfield.

Pupils also recycled old milk cartons to produce decorated bird feeders, produced beautiful ‘nature jewellery’ using recyclable materials, planted a young silver birch tree in the school grounds and considered ways to rid our oceans of plastic.

They also headed out of the classroom to monitor bee activity, and staged a mock conference to debate climate change from differing global perspectives.

Phillip Evitt, Highfield headteacher, said: “These are worrying times but what gives me great heart for the future is the way in which the children at Highfield and Brookham have taken up the challenge.”