Carlton VC Lower School

Project

We registered with Eco-Schools in March 2007, with the aim of setting up an Eco Council who would strive to educate school pupils and the community on eco-related issues. As well as this, we wanted all pupils to be as involved as possible in the decision-making and action.

We had a holistic view of how we wanted to approach the nine areas (we were already a Healthy School), so we put together an Action Plan. We surveyed the pupils, staff and parents on a range of issues and encouraged parents to get involved in the planning and building stages.

Our aim was to utilise our fabulous grounds to benefit our school community and wildlife, while also making significant inroads on several other fronts, such as reducing waste, car emissions and energy usage.

Action

Initially we wanted reducing energy usage and the reduction of our Community Carbon footprint to be our main project. Unable to secure funding, we shelved our ideas temporarily and brought forward the large project which would develop our grounds and outdoor space.

The Eco Council put up a display for the wider community to see, and to encourage pupils to be active in eco-issues. Local businesses were approached for expertise and funding, and a number of exciting initiatives were undertaken:

We purchased our chickens and 'eglu' in November 2008 and now enjoy organic free range eggs. Our 'Girls' are cared for by our wonderful pupils, parents and staff!
We have built up a fantastic relationship with the Harrold-Odell Country Park Ranger, who is a regular visitor to the school. He has taken assemblies, helped to supply and plant approximately 450 trees and hedging plants, constructed a living willow sculpture, built mini-beast motels and much more.
The whole school took part in The Great Plant Hunt, which is now part of the science curriculum, along with a Water Aid project to educate pupils on the effects of water shortage around the world and the need to conserve it.
We have a two year rolling curriculum which ensures we regularly cover the nine Eco-areas (eight 'Doorways to Sustainability') over a two year period.
We have put together a travel plan to reduce the amount of school traffic and encourage pupils to walk or cycle to school.
We record and track our energy usage on a monthly basis, and the Eco Council monitor lights, taps and litter.
The school recently organised a Big Tidy Up event to collect litter and tidy up the grounds.
The Eco Council has made some useful links with other schools. As far as possible, the Eco Council make the decisions and involve the whole school.
The Staff are committed to ensuring environmental aspects of topics are included in their planning, with certain issues being taught as a separate topic.
We grow our own fruit and vegetables in class gardens and have a greenhouse and gardening club. The school is a member of the RHS and all children grow plants from seed and look after their class gardens.

Challenges

The biggest challenge is fitting environmental education into an already over-crowded curriculum, but we see it as a vital part of children's education and strive to include it in both assemblies and topic work.

Putting together bids for funding is time consuming and requires a certain level of expertise and commitment. Finance is the main factor which holds back real energy-saving measures.

Pupil leadership

We see pupil involvement as a key factor in environmental change. The pupils elect their own Eco Council which, in turn, elects a chairperson and secretary. They run their own meetings (with adult guidance), keeping the minutes themselves. There is also an elected School Council who initiate ideas and liaise with the Eco Council. We try to give them as many opportunities as possible to organise events such as 'Bring and Buy' sales and to take assemblies. They run the 'Bin of the Week' award and other competitions to encourage all the children to get involved.

Result

The school is now virtually litter free.
Last year we saved 1000Kw of electricity, which was a reduction of one third of the previous year's energy usage.
We used 50 reams less paper, a reduction of 30%.
The school has saved money, which is a reward for all the hard work.
The pupils enjoy more outdoor lessons, and are learning about the natural world and how to care for it. They are also more up to date on world events and take an interest in what is happening in the news.
The pupils are more active citizens, and those involved in the Eco Council have become more confident with greater self-esteem. Formerly shy pupils now take assemblies and enjoy doing so.

Resources

The Pod is a fun website for the pupils to use at home, as well as in school. All children have calculated their carbon footprint and pledged to reduce the energy they use by changing one thing.

Espresso is a fantastic resource, as well as the BBC schools site. Other schools' websites are also useful for environmental education. The Woodlands Trust, Learning Through Landscapes and the Kew Gardens / Wellcome Trust Great Plant Hunt are all very useful resources.

The Harrold-Odell Country Park Ranger has been a fantastic resource and friend of our school.

We have had support from the local village shop and funding from a local business to help set up the chickens.

Lessons learned

Draw up a clear plan of what your end goal is. Don't try to move forward on too many areas.
Utilise the expertise and help that can be provided by parents and local organisations. Once you start asking for specific help, you will be amazed at what the parents can do.
Keep people informed of what is going on and how your project is progressing.
Give the pupils as much of a voice as you can.

Next steps

We have supported another lower school with their chicken project, supplying information and advice. We have also linked up with a primary school in Bedfordshire which has just set up an Eco Council, and we hope to share ideas with them.

Our next task is to explore alternative energy options for our school, initially to heat our swimming pool.