St Ives School Gains Eco Schools Green Flag with Distinction
Liza Askew
/ Categories: In the press
The judges loved how St Ives School started the academic year by nominating a new Eco Monitors Team whose first job was to carry out an Environmental Review to identify any issues and any spot gaps in their existing environmental activity. These were used to form the basis of their Action Plan which then centred around Energy, Global Citizenship and Waste. The school then held a 3-day One World Festival which taught the children the impact humans have on the environment and challenges they face in moving towards carbon neutrality. The children upcycled discarded furniture, used renewable energy to make solar powered moving bugs, took part in real scientific research to monitor the impact of climate change on penguin populations and investigated their food carbon footprint. They produced films and posters on environmental issues from the rainforests to the oceans. They also explored the impact of fast fashion on the environment at the ‘waste’ fashion show, where children used recycled materials to produce outfits stylish enough to be modelled on the St Ives catwalk! Later in the year, the children ran a switch off campaign during which they switched off all electricity to highlight how much people rely on it and how everyone must do everything they can to reduce usage. The school also had a water saving day where the whole school queued up in the playground passing water from one cup to another without spilling a drop to appreciate the importance of water preservation. They ran a Halloween clothes swap, passing down seasonal clothes from older pupils to younger ones. Likewise, they also held a book swap so books are shared between families and read more than once along with a book recycle of older books from their library. Activities like these give their children a solid understanding of doing everything they can to avoid putting anything in landfill.
Community-wise, the school has supported Haslemere’s foodbank and fundraised for Magnet High School, an orphanage in Nairobi. Two current Year 6 pupils also took the initiative to fundraise for Born Free by selling home-made lemonade.
The school has also reduced its paper usage, both within the classroom and with you, our parents, by replacing paper forms with Microsoft ones. We have also replaced our boilers with new, energy-efficient ones and are replacing bulbs with LEDs.
Kay Goldsworthy, Head Teacher of St Ives School said “We are thrilled to have received the Eco Schools Green Flag with Distinction. It is a wonderful accolade and shows us that our environmental work is making a big difference. Thank you so much to our Eco Monitors who have approached their roles with huge enthusiasm, planning so many different activities for us to take part in. We will soon be electing new Eco Monitors who will continue your hard work”.