Eco Schools

We are very pleased to tell you the Eco-Committee, made up of our school councillors, have helped us achieve an Eco-Schools Green Flag.

Here is the feedback from our application:-

We reviewed your application and noted the following:

• The selecting of the school council members to take the responsibility. It is great to hear the process has helped in team building and development of confidence and that you have encouraged the students to take ownership of the project and that you are also promoting educational values in this way!  Minutes of the School Council meeting are put onto the school website and are on display in the entrance of the school grounds.
• It was really great to read how your Environmental Review provided the basis for the projects in your Action Plan. The Environmental Review also clearly highlighted areas that you needed to improve on and it is great that your overall approach generated ideas for changes that you could make, as this demonstrates a reflective and considered approach to your Eco-Schools work.
• It is great to hear that the process has helped to raise awareness among the school councillors for the school self audit process. You’ve clearly taken efforts to connect your litter, marine and waste projects happening across the school and embedding work into curriculum and everyday school life in a really impactful way. This is really inspiring and clever. Your Action Planning is great and really detailed! The actions that you planned out were SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound). This is important as it helps to achieve progress and empower your Eco-Committee.
• It was also great to see accountability and monitoring and evaluation clearly marked in your Action Plans and that you identify actions in detail. Excellent work! We also thought your lovely word cloud Eco-Code was detailed, punchy and creative. We love that it has so many ideas that the whole school can get behind.
• Your curriculum links were really creative. We like hearing how you used geography lessons to get the children investigating renewable energy sources and why we need to work on reducing energy use. Your children also researched how to identify clean and renewable natural resources used to produce electricity, and to discuss the pros and cons of their use. You then taught them to identify parts of the world where wood is produced, and consider some of the problems associated with its production. We love that you also use practical activities like caring for and encouraging plant, animal and insect life at your school. We love this approach to pedagogy and that you mix theory and practical action in this way.
• It is wonderful to hear you approach eco topics in a fresh and relevant way, and is a great way to encourage children to take ownership of their own health and environment.. You’ve also clearly looked both internally and externally and engaged with a wide range of different stakeholders, including that you have worked with the Walk to School and Bikeability initiatives. You also worked with LifeBus and other external stakeholders. This kind of work is a great example of the collaborative approach we will all need to adopt to combat pollution in the environment – your application made us feel really positive for the future!
• Your achievements this year have been wonderful! It is great to hear your children have designed posters to promote picking up litter and we are delighted that this has seen an improvement in litter around your school. Your children have also designed posters and Easter bonnets to promote the 5 R’s to encourage people to reuse, recycle and upcycle materials from around their homes. We love that a policy is currently being drafted to ban/discourage single use plastics. It is great to hear that you now have a whole school focus regarding plants and litter! It is clear that all of these efforts truly make the Eco-Schools initiative an integral part of your school life.
• Congratulations to everyone for the great work you have managed to do. You should all be very proud of your amazing work and the great application you have submitted. You’ve really earned your Green Flag Award accreditation!