Students’ posters urge Tooting Common users not to drop litter

Thanks to National Lottery players, student from Telferscot Primary School have been involved in an art competition to create ‘cleaner environment’ posters.

Telferscot Primary School is an active Eco School and aiming to be a Rights Respecting school. At the start of the year the children studied the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and focused on article 24 and 31, which say children have the right to play and to a clean environment. They then visited Tooting Common to explore how the green space is being treated by its users and found many pollutants such as cigarette butts, ripped plastic bags, crisp packets and cans. So the children created a design brief to persuade common users to pick up their litter and bin it or take it home. They drafted designs with key messages about how dangerous it is for wildlife to drop litter and that we all need to try to help our planet stay sustainable. 60 students took part in creating posters and five winners had their posters made into professional signs and displayed on the Emmanuel Road end of Tooting Common.

The Telferscot Eco Schools leader Ms Diego says:

"Year 4 pupils have proudly created posters explaining the negative effects of dropping litter on wildlife. Simple key messages such as, 'I love this world, help our common stay clean' and hand-drawn images of our planet and a hand that says 'stop', are there to convince common users to bin litter or take it home. Tooting Common is a thriving natural space and we want it to stay that way, so we can continue having our lessons and sports activities there and for others to enjoy it!"

Maria Hussain, Isra Abdulrahman, Evie Kerry, Zoe Rokita and Antonio Minutti-Rufo holding their environmental posters on Tooting Common.