Eco-Schools Award
It is the Government’s plan that every school in Britain be sustainable by 2020. With this in mind Spratton Hall aims to make sustainability part of its core ethos and the Eco-Schools award is a way of guiding us towards this end. The award programme examines the way the school works and drives actions to reduce the impact of the school on the Earth. It provides a simple framework to enable us to examine our operations and puts the pupils at the heart of things. It looks at the whole process, including monitoring, action planning and decision-making.
In summer 2009 we were awarded the Eco-schools Bronze Award. This was quite an easy achievement as much of what the school already did could be counted. We did launch a new regular Year 5 paper recycling scheme whereby a large recycling box was placed near all the teaching rooms for the children and staff to place waste paper. These are emptied on a weekly basis into wheelie bins for the council to collect. We have also appointed termly representatives (called eco-reps) from each form to meet and come up with eco-ideas.
This academic year we have been working towards the much harder Silver Award. From September 2009 new Eco-reps were appointed for the duration of the year so that only the keenest environmentalists were selected.
The Eco-schools Award is based around the following nine topics.
Transport
Energy
School Grounds
Water
Biodiversity
Healthy living
Litter
Global Awareness
To gain our Silver Award we have nearly completed a major study of Global Perspective and are working towards two larger topics. Global Perspective includes citizenship, Fair Trade etc. and we have developed links with Ed Stafford, who is currently walking the length of the Amazon. The work is gradually being displayed in the ICT ‘Amazon’ corridor which we hope to complete by June.
February 2010 April 2010
We have recently introduced named water bottles to cut the huge waste in plastic bottles that the children bought in and left at school.
Part of the Eco-schools initiative is to regularly inform and educate all areas of the school. I have spoken in a few assemblies, have written regularly in the newsletter and we have a designated notice-board with regular updates on local and global issues. This notice-board also displays our Eco-Code, which we all need to follow – not just the children - but senior management and governors!
By the end of the summer term I hope that we will have amassed all the information needed to apply for our Silver Award. I also hope that Ed Stafford (who should complete his epic walk in August) will come to speak to us in the autumn term to tell us first-hand about the Amazon.
Bronze award – July 2009
F Kinnear