By Sophy, Good Energy

To the Guardian’s swish offices in Kings Cross yesterday afternoon for the launch of the 10:10 Schools education pack in partnership with charity ActionAid (also a Good Energy partner).
 

Children’s author Anthony Horowitz and Age of Stupid director Franny Armstrong were the headline attractions – and as it was half-term quite a few people had brought their kids along to hear them talk about the importance of getting schools involved in educating about climate change.
 

There was a noticeable intake of breath in the room when Anthony confessed he was due to take no less than 18 flights next month to promote his new book – but he’d managed to whittle it down from 22, so that’s OK then. He’s also swapped his BMW for a Prius and gets a big kick from ordering tap water when he goes to The Ivy.
 

But the real stars of the event were the staff and pupils of Crispin School in Somerset who told us about how their clever initiatives such as the Energy Police and Wear a Jumper campaign have helped the school slash its energy use. 
 

Schools wishing to follow their fantastic example should sign up to 10:10 now – the first 1000 secondary schools signing up will get a free copy of ActionAid’s excellent teaching pack ‘Stupid or not: education for a smarter planet.’ The packs include clips and photocard stories from the film, thought-provoking animations, and many cross curricular links. Primary schools signing up to 10:10 can get Actionaid’s ‘Powerdown’ toolkits. 
 

Actionaid and 10:10 schools have also launched a social networking site to support the campaign where teachers can get advice and guidance on reducing their schools’ carbon emissions – visit http://1010schools.ning.com.
 

We all know how effective children’s pester power can be -- so, tell your kids to tell their schools all about how they can get their free pack from www.actionaid.org.uk/1010. After all, as Anthony Horowitz said, they’re the ones who will be inheriting the mess we leave behind.

  

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