Y6 Students Reflect on Sustainability Through the Hi!AI Project
As part of our school’s ongoing commitment to environmental education and innovative learning, our Year 6 students recently took part in a special writing assignment linked to the hi!ai Sustainability project, developed in collaboration with Globeducate.
During their English lessons, students were invited to think deeply about a series of important questions:
What does sustainability mean to me? How can I make an impact? How can we, as a community, make an impact? And why does all of this matter?
With permission from their families, we are delighted to share three remarkable essays by Year 6 pupils Valando Kyriakides, Annabelle Tarry, and Markos Kouvaras. Their reflections highlight a strong sense of responsibility, creativity, and hope—showcasing how young people think about protecting our planet.
Student Essays
“Sustainability” by Valando Kyriakides
Sustainability means to care for our environment. But at
the moment, a great amount of us aren’t and that’s bad if we want a bright
future… or a future at all. If this continues, there won’t be anything left. So
we need to work all together, as a team, to help the Earth, the animals and
plants inhabiting here.
It’s also important that we care about how we’re acting
towards the Earth and everyone living here, including ourselves. We need to put
ourselves in the Earth’s shoes. (Not literally, the Earth doesn’t have shoes!)
The Earth gives us so much, it’s time we gave back!
So to help the Earth and ourselves I have a few ideas
that I’d like to share. We could use natural grass and if you cut a tree,
remember to plant a new one. Also, it’d be really good if every house had solar
panels! It would be brilliant if people used natural daylight too, having
showers instead of continuous baths and maybe even robot bins which pick up
trash. With all of this, we could slowly make this world brighter and cleaner
as each day passes.
If we all work together, we could accomplish great
things. Every little move counts. In Earth, there is no solo act, there’s
teamwork! Do you want to make the Earth a cleaner place? Do you want to have a
pleasant future, or even a future at all? Then please, we need help, our
environment is in danger!
Thank you, to all who love, care and appreciate Earth and
our environment.
Valando Kyriakides
Year 6, International School of Paphos
“My Role in a Sustainable Planet” by Annabelle Tarry
Sustainability means caring for the environment, for people, plants and animals. It’s about saving the earth so that we can live in peace today and in the future. Sustainability means making good choices to keep the earth healthy.
Sustainability is important because it helps the environment. If we didn’t have it then we wouldn’t have clean air, food or even places to live! This could still happen if we don’t try and help. We need to be careful or our children (or grandchildren) won’t have places to live.
We need to come up with new ideas fast! Luckily, I already have a few. Water sprinklers with timers and sensors so we know when the plants have enough water is one idea. In summer, open windows for the light and for winter get motion sensor lights that turn off when you leave the room. Use push-down taps so we don’t waste water. Take iPads to school instead of using paper (if your teacher lets you)!
Some ideas for school: every time a child leaves a school they plant a tree with their name on it for memory. Each class could have a flower on the teacher’s desk and people take turns watering it. There could also be lots of Kindles in the library instead of books.
I really love the environment and nature. When I grow up I want to help but we all need to try as hard as we can or we won’t have a good future. Do you love the earth?
Annabelle Tarry
Year 6, International School of Paphos
“My Role in Building a Sustainable Planet” by Markos Kouvaros
For me, sustainability means to keep a clean and healthy environment for this, and future generations to come. Even the smallest change makes a difference.
It’s important that we sustain our planet because think about your grandkids or kids living in a world where they have to wear masks because the Earth’s atmosphere is not sustainable for human life. And imagine not seeing this green and beautiful world—who would want to miss out on that?!
We could prevent that from happening! For example, schools use so much paper that it would be the equivalent of 150 trees, so I think we could use technology to stop the waste of paper. Also, every time someone joins a school, the parents could buy a tree seed and they could create a forest. Have you ever given the thought that maybe electric cars are actually worse than diesel? Because electric cars use lithium batteries which are not recyclable and for the electricity they use, power plants release CO₂ into the atmosphere more than gas cars.
That means with all these 8 billion people on this planet, if we all work together we could build a sustainable ecosystem and atmosphere for this and future generations. Are you going to sit back and relax or are you the one to make a difference?
Markos Kouvaros
Year 6, International School of Paphos
Looking Ahead
These essays showcase not only the knowledge gained through the hi!ai Sustainability project, but also the compassion, imagination, and forward-thinking attitude of our pupils. Their words remind us that sustainability begins with awareness and grows through action—big and small.
We are incredibly proud of the effort, sincerity, and hope expressed by our Year 6 students, and we look forward to seeing how they—and our entire school community—continue shaping a greener, brighter future.
