'The least we can do': The schools stepping in to support climate strikes

Principals at two top Sydney private schools have dropped their objection to pupils attending Friday's global climate strike after students and alumni convinced them they should go.

The heads of Newington College and SCEGGS Darlinghurst wrote to their school communities this week to say those who attend the strike with parental permission would not be punished.

But schools across Sydney remain divided over allowing students to attend the strike, which grew out of the School Strike 4 Climate founded by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg. Strikes in March and November last year were attended by an estimated 40,000 and 15,000 students nationwide.

Public school principals are obliged to follow the Department of Education's official line, which remains "students need to be at school on school days".

A Catholic Schools NSW spokesman backed that stance. "While we are pleased to see our students passionate about the environment, the best way for young people to really make a difference is to receive a quality education," he said.

Newington headmaster Michael Parker was similarly opposed to the school strike movement, until a group of year 11 students came to his office.

"Going on a march for climate fits the school’s vision better than one more regular day around the classrooms, they tell me," Mr Parker wrote in a detailed email to parents and teachers. "These kids are passionate, they are smart and they have thought it through.

"Students who have shown they care about this should be able to march about it. If their parents have allowed them to be absent to go to the strike, then the least we can do is give them the school’s support too."

SCEGGS Darlinghurst principal Jenny Allum also experienced a change of heart after meeting with recent alumni.

"I am not yet convinced that time off school to protest is more important or significant than doing a whole range of other things," she wrote in a newsletter.

"But it is a moot point anyway – you don’t get permission to strike either. So if parents give written permission for the girls to go to the strike, they will be marked Absent without Leave, but they won’t be punished, or 'thought badly of', and no negative consequences will flow in any way."

Ms Allum said she had been persuaded the strike marks "a unique and significant moment in international public advocacy about the future of the planet".

At least one public school parents and citizens association is ignoring the department's edict, with the Bondi Beach Public School P&C passing a resolution to urge the school's families to attend.

Parent Simon Robson contacted parents via email and handed out pamphlets outside school. "I would hope for at least 20 to 25 parents, and as many kids," he said.

Lorien Novalis School for Rudolf Steiner Education also supports the strike.

"If possible, I will be attending as well as other teachers from the school," said head Norman Sievers. "It is our obligation to show young people that they have the power to change the world."

Thousands of school students from across Sydney attend the global rally at Town Hall in March.Credit: Janie Barrett

But many schools will be sticking with their usual attendance policies, with some hosting student-led climate change events on school grounds.

Ravenswood principal Anne Johnstone said they had "sought to balance support for student voice, the environment and the immense value of education" by encouraging a student-facilitated, in-school action.

Students at Meriden in Strathfield have also organised a climate-focused event on school grounds. Pupils will plant seeds in recycled containers and write a pledge about how they will make the Earth greener.

At St Catherine's, headmistress Julie Townsend said deciding whether a student strikes was parents' responsibility but "we do not condone absences from school unless it is unavoidable".

Cranbrook School also said its standard attendance policies would apply.

The nationwide strike is expected to draw tertiary students and workers in addition to school-age children, with over 1800 businesses and 30 unions pledging support.

Universities said they would not penalise students and staff from attending the strike.