More than 30,000 pupils in schools across England will be wearing green and thinking green, as they focus all their attention on climate change during Britain's first-ever 'green day' on Thursday 5 June.

The green day, devised by The Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE) and coinciding with world environment day, is designed to bring alive the connections between climate change and the built environment, through thought-provoking eco-themed activities.

The initiative targets pupils aged seven to 14 in key stages 2 and 3. It gives teachers the chance to explore how environmental issues link subjects across the curriculum, and have a trial run at putting the new key stage 3 curriculum into practice. CABE said it is also a practical way to make the schools themselves more sustainable.

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CABE has devised the green day as a fun way of engaging young people in a serious issue. Pupils are invited to wear an item of green clothing to school. Teachers will start the day by making the link between climate change and the built environment throughout the morning, before whole-school activities go green in the afternoon.

Matt Bell, CABEs Director of Education, said the response from schools to the green day project had been extraordinary.

He said: "There is clearly a huge appetite for practical ideas that help young people make the connections between climate change and the buildings and places around us. Climate change is in many respects a young person's issue. And the built environment offers a fantastic resource for a school to become both more sustainable in the way it runs and more creative in the way it teaches and learns."

(CD/JM)