News
Created out of a desire to make our school even more sustainable and forward thinking in our approach to working with nature, we launched the eco-club at the start of the academic year which runs on Thursday lunchtimes. The eco-club works using a structured style whereby pupils can see the weekly progress that is being made in the School grounds.
We began an application for the eco-club to be involved in Eco Schools which is an organisation aimed at promoting sustainability in schools across the country. Eco Schools offer the ability for pupils to achieve the Green Flag Award which is an international accreditation recognising and rewarding young people’s environmental actions for over twenty-five years.
Applying for an Eco-Schools Green Flag is the perfect way to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the ecological achievements of young people. It clearly demonstrates that their hard work is appreciated and it provides them with the confidence and motivation to continue actively engaging with environmental issues now and throughout their lifetimes.
As a school, we focused on three key areas we wanted to improve: biodiversity, waste and school grounds. The eco-club believed that we could utilise our School grounds even more by encouraging more plant and animal life to our green spaces. To do this, we have designed and built bird houses, installed a beehive, planted nine urban trees and planted wildflower seeds. In addition to this, the eco-club have been involved with the COP26 assembly planning, designing informative posters “reduce, reuse and recycle” and even began building a ‘bug hotel’ for the local critters!
I am delighted to announce that this week we received an email confirming that we have been awarded the Eco Schools Green Flag Award. This is a fantastic achievement for the dedicated eco-group and is a testament to their hard work during this academic year. We are already thinking of ways in which we can move forward and continue to work with nature in a more harmonious way in the future.
Eco-club runs Thursday lunchtime between 1.30-2:00pm and I warmly invite you to come along and join. I look forward to updating you in future newsletters about our upcoming projects.
From Eco Schools: “Well done on your success in Biodiversity and the bee hives. Outdoor learning is an essential part of pupil’s development. Everyone involved should be incredibly proud that you have managed to thrive considering the challenging circumstances. Congratulations on achieving a Eco-Schools Green Flag!”
Written by Mr Parker (Teacher of Geography and Drama, Mill Hill International)
