On Monday 20th June, Year 9 went to Harrow School to compete in the Earthshot Competition: a competition where pupils from Year 9 at Harrow and FHS had to attempt to solve the five main problems that are contributing to the decline of the earth. Needless to say, the FHS girls did brilliantly and won four out of five of the competitions.

Our group from the ‘Protect and Restore Nature’ category created a brilliant and unique plant lottery when the participants plant flowers to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Our group from the ‘Clean Our Air’ category were encouraging people to move to electric cars or public transport. Our group for ‘Revive Our Oceans’ had three ideas to protect rivers flowing into oceans: they planned to put barriers across rivers to trap plastic, release the enzyme Petase into the water to break down microplastics, and educate people living near the river about relevant issues to them. Our group for ‘Build a Waste-Free World’ designed a shop with a hydroponic farm above so the food wouldn’t have to travel long distances and would be sold by weight and without too much packaging. Our group for ‘Fix Our Climate’ used piezoelectricity (energy resulting from pressure) to power cars, by adding piezoelectric substances into tyres, so they could be charged without needing charging stations or petrol. It is clear that with these wonderful ideas Francis Holland School students are very much at the forefront of innovation and ingenuity when it comes to finding new solutions to the climate crisis.

Phoebe and Antonia, Year 9