Ramsgate Public School ordered to remove student notes published to Prime Minister Scott Morrison

A Sydney public school has been forced to remove notes students as young as nine wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning “everything in the world could be extinct” unless he does something about global warming.

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A Sydney public school has been forced to remove notes students as young as nine wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning “everything in the world could be extinct” unless he does something about global warming.

The Education Department ordered Ramsgate Public School to remove two letters from students published in an online newsletter because they breached the department’s Controversial Issues in Schools policy.

The Education Department ordered Ramsgate Public School to remove two letters from students.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Getty

The policy was put in place to stop activist teachers from pushing their political agendas onto public schools, which are meant to be places of neutral discussion and objective study.

“I urge you to do something about global warming,” said a student in one of the letters to the prime minister. “If we don’t act now, everything in the world could be extinct.”

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Another child’s letter said Australia had signed the Paris Agreement but was “rebelling” against it by burning “fossil fuels”. “That means we are technically doing illegal things,” the student wrote.

The department said the letters were written by students as part of lessons on persuasive writing, where students could write “exposition pieces” arguing one side of an issue. But both of the letters published in the newsletter were critical of the government on the issue of climate change.

A spokesman said that although the letters were addressed to the prime minister they were never sent.

“The letters are being taken down from the online edition of the newsletter,” the spokesman said. “The department is pursuing the matter with the school with a view to ensuring future compliance with the policy.”

The department is pursuing the matter with Ramsgate Public School with a view to ensuring future compliance with the policy. Picture: Supplied

Education experts said most nine-year-olds would not even know where Paris is let alone the detail of the international climate agreement named after a meeting there in 2016.

Institute of Public Affairs director Bella d’Abrera said parents should be concerned children were being subjected to a political agenda in the classroom.

“Teachers at this school need to return to their core duties, which is to teach the children in their care how to read and write, not to lobby government on climate change,” she said.

Australian Catholic University expert Prof Kevin Donnelly said it was part of a bigger trend of activists using children as pawns.

“To my mind it is indoctrination, not education and it is another appalling example of how the cultural left are brainwashing young, immature and vulnerable children with their politically correct ideology.”

Education researcher at the Centre for Independent Studies Blaise Joseph said schools should encourage students to write about complex topics, “but directly commenting in an election campaign maybe goes a bit too far”.

“You really do want to be encouraging the kids to be write about relatively complex topics … but if there is a political side of it becomes a bit concerning.”