News
Ocean Gatekeepers builds momentum
4 March 2026
Sustainability at St George’s is at its best when learning turns into visible, student-led action – and our wholeschool ocean theme is doing exactly that. Supported by ProBleu funding, the Ocean Gatekeepers project is helping students connect everyday choices on land with the health of marine ecosystems, building ocean literacy and a lasting culture of stewardship.
The project launched on Thursday, 9 October 2025, when more than 150 attendees attended a screening of Ocean with David Attenborough, setting an inspiring tone for the year ahead. Since then, students have tackled waste head-on by sorting and cleaning school stationery plastics, ready to be ground, melted and remoulded in St George’s new recycling machines into practical items such as coasters.
A centrepiece of the work is a striking 15-metre whale mural, designed by alumna Kiki and painted by Primary and Secondary students. In student interviews with Year 2, Kiki explained how ocean food chains are “all very interconnected” and warned that when we “overfish… they don’t have anything to eat anymore.”
The mural will continue to grow as Primary students are working on a large origami installation of a swarm of krill swimming close the whale mural. Building on the campaign to raise awareness about ocean eco-systems, Year 7 students have created vivid research-and-art displays (endangered animals “disappearing” from habitats). Year 8 students have also been researching alternative krill-free products.
St George’s Eco-Agents have raised more than €600 for Sea Shepherd and Precious Plastic Gambia through Fairtrade bake sales, recycled-plastic keychains and more. To learn more about the overfishing of krill visit https://seashepherd.org/antarctica/
Next stEp
St George’s Ocean Symposium on Friday, 8 May 2026, will welcome young people aged 10 to 13 from schools in Luxembourg and Germany for workshops, an interactive exhibition and student-led learning, honouring Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday and celebrating Ocean Gatekeepers.
Read more about St George’s wholeschool approach to sustainability here
