In an exemplary effort to promote sustainability and climate awareness, primary schools in the municipality of Herzele have committed to the educational programme "Schools Count!". Schools Count! is a ready-made teaching package to work with pupils in the 5th, and 6th grade on safe and child-friendly school environments.
On 1 June, the 5th and 6th grades of Kersentuin dived into Schools Count!, and on 6 June, the 6th grade of CBE did the same. An introductory lesson places mobility in the broad context of global warming and environmental pollution. Children gain insight into the big impact small changes in behaviour can have. Next, pupils take a critical look at mobility around the school and in their neighbourhood using Telraam data. They think about the routes people take, they discuss the impact of traffic on their school environment.
Children are intensely engaged with the topic of global warming and sustainability. They are also good at naming the consequences of a lot of car traffic on themselves, the environment, the climate. There is also a general gut feeling among the children that there is too much car traffic, in certain streets in Herzele, and that this poses a danger to themselves and other active road users. Diving into the Telraam data also objectified this gut feeling for them and prompted them to also look at the data from the other Telraams in Herzele.