CLIMATE change was top of the bill when Hitchin and Harpenden MP Peter Lilley met students at a Harpenden school which has been tackling the issue.

The Oxfam Youth Action Group was formed two years ago at Sir John Lawes School and works alongside the charity giving support, raising awareness and fundraising.

Members of the group had compiled a petition on the theme of stopping climate change and helping people deal with its effects which took the form of hundreds of green leaves signed by students and staff with their own message to the MP about what they think should be done about climate change.

Helen Cox, advanced skills teacher and global citizenship co-ordinator, said: “It was great to see the young people at SJL taking the initiative to invite in their local MP and to raise their questions and concerns about climate change.”

n The secondary school’s Year 9 engineering team also tackled environment issues when it walked off with the top award in the regional engineering competition Hertfordshire Go4SET Challenge.

The team of six students – Miriam Quinn, Alex Moores, Shriya Gupta, Will Greaves, Gulreza Khan Tareen and Emma McLaughlin – scooped the Pupils Choice Award for Best Project and the Best Teamwork Award for their 50-page report on Waste and our Environment.

The team produced a 50-page report on the subject of Waste and the Environment, a display board and scale models of proposed developments to the Sir John Lawes School site as well as a table made from entirely recycled materials.

Tom Murphy, advanced skills teacher at Sir John Lawes, said: “We are really proud of the passion and dedication the students have shown in the project.

“They have put in in excess of 60 hours of their own time towards this and deserved every bit of their success.”