Welcome to our Eco Club page, where we'll keep you up to date with our activities!
Eco Club began at our school in 2019 and, from the beginning, we followed the Eco-Schools programme, part of the Keep Britain Tidy charity. The environmental issues that we face, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution are huge and may feel overwhelming. The Eco-Schools seven step framework breaks down these issues into more manageable themes, empowering the children to take small steps together to make a difference. And hopefully have fun at the same time!
That first year, we received the Eco-Schools Bronze Award. During lockdown, Eco Club stayed active in a limited way, by communicating eco tips. Then in 2021, we resumed fully, had a very busy year and were thrilled to receive the new Green Flag Award in July 2022.
This year, we have 25 Eco Councillors from Years 4-6 who meet weekly. There are also 6 Eco Representatives from Years 1-3 who attend occasional meetings through the year. Our younger representatives are responsible for reminding their classes to turn off lights and taps, and to recycle correctly.
We began the year with 'Green Day' on 30th September as part of the Great Big Green Week. Children wore green to school, donated £1 to fund Eco Club activities, attended an assembly and participated in environment-themed class activities throughout the week.
Our next step was to choose three topics on which to focus this year : the children chose Biodiversity, School Grounds and Healthy Living. In addition to activities related to these topics, we continue with our general eco activities :
* remind everyone at school to turn off lights and taps, close doors and recycle correctly.
* collect crisp packets, used ink cartridges, batteries and old plastic pens for recycling.
So far this year, we have :
* held a brainstorming session to generate activity ideas.
* planted spring bulbs, including Muscari (great for pollinators).
* planted garlic.
* made Healthy Living Bingo sheets.
* re-purposed old jars as tea light holders and decorated them for Christmas.
* embarked upon a secret kindness-spreading project.
* kept the school bird feeders topped up.
* took part in the RSPB's Big School Birdwatch.
* assessed the native hedge that we planted last March, replacing trees that died in last summer's heat.
We have a few busy terms ahead and will keep you up to date in our blog below!
'You are never too small to make a difference.'
Greta Thunberg