Hayesdown First School has been awarded the prestigious Eco-Schools’ Green Flag award by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.
The internationally-recognised Green Flag is this highest award given to eco-schools and symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity.
This follows on from the Bronze and Silver awards that the school has previously earned, and recognises two years of hard work by the children and school community in raising awareness and taking action on environmental issues.
The Eco-Schools programme enables schools to embark on a meaningful path towards improving the environment in both the school and the local community.
Hayesdown’s eco-team identified key actions that the school could take to make a positive impact on the environment and then ensured that children, staff and parents all worked together to make a difference. Some of the activities they undertook were; encouraging bio-diversity through planting a “bee friendly” garden; reducing food waste at lunchtimes with a “clean plate” initiative; reducing the amount of plastic used in the school by cutting down on laminating and recycling old pens; saving energy by turning off lights, monitors and screens; encouraging more children to walk, bike or scoot to school; picking litter and creating a Hayesdown eco-code.
Environmental issues are also woven into exciting projects for children’s learning for example year four’s “Plastic Fantastic?” project which surveyed how well the food outlets in Frome town centre were using biodegradable or recyclable materials.
As part of this project, children wrote letters to the Minister for the Environment and local MPs and were delighted to receive replies, which recognised their concerns over the use of single use plastics and the harm they do to the environment.
Children in year one and two are all planning a “green” Christmas and are busy making decorations out of natural and recyclable materials. The PTA have also been on board with the school’s environment message and stopped using plastic cups at the recent school disco and collecting clothes for recycling.
The Eco-Schools’ programme assessor, Karyn Fullerton, was particularly impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and confidence, commenting, “It was a great pleasure to chat to all the eco-team during my visit and I enjoyed them telling me about all the Eco-Schools projects you have undertaken. You are great ambassadors for Eco-Schools and your Green Flag is well deserved.”
Mrs Battersby, headteacher at Hayesdown First School said, “We are thrilled that the passion and commitment of the children has been recognised by the Green Flag Award. Being responsible is one of the school’s values and the children have all made it a priority to make the school a more environmentally friendly place. They realise they have the power to make changes to the world, raise environmental awareness and take positive action. The school has now signed up to be a plastic free school as the Eco-School journey continues.”
