If you ever get despondent at our collective failure to get to grips with the environmental disasters that threaten the planet, try working with Primary School kids! They can restore your faith in the future!

In October last year, one of my neighbours with a child at the local Primary School, Elm Park, in this part of Winterbourne, told me that the school was setting up an Eco-Committee and was looking for parents to join. Although our youngest, Lucy, will be 35 in April, my green credentials, which seem well known in the neighbourhood, were apparently enough to convince the Headteacher that I could make a useful contribution, (plus the fact that parents were backward in coming forward).

It took me about a month to clear all the safety hurdles that you have to surmount if you are intending to work with children, but Claudia Sartori at National FOE gives you all the forms and guides you through the process, so it is no big deal.

When I attended my first meeting of the Eco-Committee in November, I found myself in the school Computer Room, surrounded by about a dozen lively 7-9 year olds, and Helean Hughes, the Headteacher and only other adult on the Committee, and, I suspect, the prime mover in this environmental adventure. I soon discovered that the Committee had already conducted an energy audit of the School, and had developed an Action Plan for the whole of the school year, divided into 5 coherent policy areas; Saving Energy, Reducing Litter, Recycling, Biodiversity and Healthy Living.

When I said how impressed I was by all of this, Mrs Hughes confessed that she had leaned heavily on the Eco-Schools handbook produced by a Charity called Encams, which, amongst other things, runs the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign. Encams manages the Eco-Schools project in the UK; it is designed to promote environmental awareness in a way that links to many curriculum subjects, and claims to create a shared understanding of what it takes to run a school in a way that respects and enhances the environment.

The programme sponsors include SITA (who collect our waste in South Gloucestershire), AND McDonalds! (No, you didn’t misread that!) Now I am no fan of the fast food chain; I have only ever eaten once in one of their establishments, in France I’m ashamed to say, when I was dragged in by my brother-in-law, but if they’re putting their money into Eco-Schools, more power to their elbow.

And is the programme working at Elm Park? I’ll say it is. It is now February, and many of the aims in the Action Plan have already been met. Notable successes include some brilliant energy-saving posters designed and produced (on the computers) by the pupils themselves, and a successful campaign to reduce the number of individual Christmas cards sent within the School. In the Healthy Living area, the school has introduced a number of strategies to reduce the consumption of junk food on school premises, and to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Yesterday we had a fascinating practical seminar on composting, and the main objectives for the Spring and Summer Terms include the creation of a pond, and developing a senses garden to encourage a greater range of wildlife. All this activity will be recognised tomorrow, when the Headteacher will tell the School that Elm Park has already achieved the Eco-Schools Silver Award – and we will of course be going for Green!

What has really impressed me about my experience at Elm Park is the energy and enthusiasm of the 12-14 youngsters on the Eco-Committee, and their readiness to contribute their own ideas. We meet weekly for 45 minutes on Wednesday lunchtimes, and the sessions are always stimulating. The location also allows the pupils to conduct internet research and design as a valuable part of most sessions. If this brief account of one School’s experience inspires you as much as it has me, then why not contact your own School and see if they are doing anything similar. I would be happy to send you a copy of our original Action Plan (with the agreement of the Headteacher), and the Eco-Schools website is here (tel: 01942 612621).

Tony Harding

— Web Master auto generated by txt2dokuwiki