Eco-School
Keeping the eco flag flying!
In Spring 2009 the hard work of pupils, staff and parents of Werrington Primary School was recognized with the award of the green flag.
Our eco-committee members did a fantastic job of showing representatives from Eco-Schools around the school, and explaining how we keep our school green.
Our green activities include:
- energy saving e.g. switching off lights , computers and taps when they are not needed
- reducing, reusing and recycling e.g. reusing scrap paper, separating out paper and cardboard to be recycled and turning fruit waste and paper shreddings into compost
- looking after our environment through our litter-free policy and by developing parts of our school grounds to be more environmentally-friendly, for example, our conservation area, as well as the newly-developed courtyard area. Once established, the plants in the courtyard area will provide a sensory learning area (sight, smell, touch, and even taste with some of the herbs) and should also attract wildlife.
Take a look at the pictures in our gallery
- encouraging less pollution in our community through walk to school initiatives and traffic surveys
In the classroom:
Reception children first meet the concept of recycling through their junk modelling project.
Year 2 pupils carry out traffic surveys as part of Numeracy, and look at the effect this has on our village.
Children in Year 4 extend their “green” knowledge through a visit to the local recycling centre. They also explore the outdoor environment and its effect on the habitats and food chains of animals.
Additionally, the importance of healthy eating is studied by all year groups as part of science lessons, as well as being promoted through the school’s healthy eating policy, including our nutritious hot school dinners.
Finally, children from Reception through to Year 6 all benefit from putting our conservation area to good use – from exploring mini beasts and their habitats to growing and harvesting vegetables, and from learning about the changing seasons to taking inspiration from nature for artwork and descriptive writing.
Outside the classroom:
Eco-representatives from each class make up our eco-committee. These enthusiastic individuals are responsible for a whole range of green issues:
- ensuring there is two-way communication on green issues between pupils and adults
- keeping everyone informed of green activities via the eco notice board
- composting fruit and paper waste
- keeping the school grounds litter free
- monitoring energy use through recording meter readings
- encouraging energy saving around school
- promoting green initiatives, such as the Generation Green campaign to collect leaves (you may be able to help us collect more at www.generationgreen.co.uk), as well as the Morrison’s Let’s Grow scheme
Pupils and parents who make up our gardening club, under the guidance of Renny Antonelli, put lots of hard work into learning more about a wide range of environmental issues including conservation, wildlife and growing plants. As well as hard work, there is also lots of fun to be had, especially when finding frogs and newts, planting seeds, harvesting and tasting our produce, pressing apples into juice and working with clay, wood and willow. See our photos in the gallery.
