What have we done? What are we doing?

Environmental Review Score: 2 out of 6 (Red) (May 21) ► 2 out of 6 (Red) (Oct 21)

We know that we can be doing a lot more to recycle in school and try to cut down the waste that goes into landfill. We have some recycling bins in the corridor but these are not used as much as we would like. We would like to have more recycling bins in the playground and in the classrooms. We know that there is a lot of food waste at lunchtime, and the Infant Milk scheme produces a lot of cartons and straws that cannot be recycled. 

Actions:

- Obtain some more recycling bins for classrooms and the playground.

- Get more food caddies for organic waste at playtime.

- Change how we get milk for the Infant Milk scheme.

- Monitor the food waste at lunchtime and find ways to reduce this.

Progress:

- Changed the Infant Milk Scheme

- Adapted some lunchtime routines that had changed due to covid and produced more waste.

- More caddies for the fruit waste and a compost bin to make compost.

- More paper and plastic recycling

- More recycling in the staff room.

Recycling Lost Property (September 2021)

Y6 have been sorting out the huge quantity of lost property that we have accumulated in school in the last year. They searched through three huge boxes of clothing, mainly jumpers. We managed to re-unite some items with their owners, but there is so much that has not been named! We plan to wash the items and re-distribute in school.

Creative Writing - Letters to Cool Milk (June 2021)

Y2 noticed that milk ordered from Cool Milk came in cartons and single use plastic straws. We found that we couldn't recycle the cartons in our school bins. So we asked Cool Milk if we could have milk in bottles instead. Y2 have now put their writing skills to good use with our thank you letters to Cool Milk: they have swapped the cartons & plastic straws for recyclable bottles, and sent us washable and reusable 60 cups as well! We love healthy milk and we love reducing our waste even more. 

Composting Caddies Update (June 2021)

We've increased the number of caddies available in school so that every class has their own, plus one in the staff room and one for our After School Club, Happy Days (because they do enjoy lots of fruit snacks!). Now we are reducing what we put into general waste, diverting it to the compost heap when we can. Happy Days have created their own song on the importance of composting.

Composting caddies for the playgrounds (May 2021)

Miss Harrison organised for some new composting caddies for both the Infant and Junior Playgrounds. These have their own compostable sacks, and our aim is to divert food waste such as banana skins, apple cores and orange peel from the general waste bins and into the compost. Our Eco Ambassadors are going to take them out each day and then bring them back in, emptying the contents into our organic composter in the school grounds. Finlay from Reception is used to composting at home and gave us a fantastic explanation of the jobs that worms do when they make compost!

Update: each class now has its own caddy, as do After School Club and in the Staff Room!

Battery Collection (May 2021)

We have been collecting batteries in school for recycling for a while but, due to covid restrictions, they have not been picked up. We've arranged for this to happen shortly. Look how many we have collected! We will continue to collect them because our children know how dangerous and toxic they are if they are put in the general waste.

Plastic Recycling (May 2021)

Our Y2 Eco Ambassadors have been on a Recycling mission - to sort and empty the plastic waste. Just one piece of incorrect waste today, but only 28 items... we think quite a bit is going in the general waste. The Eco team have been talking to all classes to remind them to use the right bins, separating paper, plastic, compost and general waste. After only a few days we are already seeing a change in our waste bins. We hope to see a major difference next term!

Reducing Single Use Plastic at Lunchtime (May 2021)

So many of our children have expressed concerns about the increase in single use plastic at lunchtime, containers, bags and plastic cutlery. This has come about because of covid measures, given our KS2 pupils now have lunch in their classroom bubbles and not in the Hall. Our children are now starting to question the resources we use and to ask what we can do to make it better. So The Eco-Ambassadors have taken this on and we have asked our cook if there are changes we can make. Changes are now planned for next term, including more reuse and recycling of plastic where we can and removing the volume of plastic used to wrap food. And we're going back to our metal cutlery, not plastic! We also found out from our cook that the containers are a special biodegradable plastic, so that IS good news! Y3&4 eco team are much happier! Thank you to our wonderful Catering Team for helping us out!