Discovery College supports in principle our students taking a stance on an issue as important as climate change. We, however, have to concern ourselves with the practical side of this proposed day of action. Our first – and most important – responsibility to the young people who have been entrusted into our care is their safety. We cannot simply allow students the day off to attend an unsupervised event. To do this would be to abandon our commitment to preserving and protecting their safety and wellbeing.
The issue of climate change in itself is of vital importance – we have created a culture within our school where we encourage our students to be aware of global issues and to be citizens of the world, however, our need to keep all of our students safe means that we cannot support students leaving school without approval to attend any events that may be taking place.
If any parents are planning on allowing their child to miss school next Friday 15 March to take part in the day of action, we require parents to let the school know in advance. Student non-attendance will be recorded as an unexplained absence.