Eco
We aim to link Eco activities into all areas of the curriculum and for the majority of them to take part outside the classroom, using one or more of the many different areas of our school grounds - allotments, biodomes, willow dome, orchard, year group outdoor spaces, sensory alley and our new peace garden or in campaigns involving our parents and local community in the areas surrounding our school grounds - streets, parks, allotments and the canal.
Activities will be incorporated into lessons that link in with and without the action plan covering different curriculum areas to embrace a cross curricular approach.
Through the school's curriculum, the children will explore disciplinary concepts and consider the following concept questions.
What does it mean to be a citizen?
Does equality always mean treating everybody the same?
Is power always a positive thing?
Does change always make things better?
Is trade necessary?
Is being part of a community the same for everyone?
Alongside each of these concepts, the children will also consider substantive concepts such as climate change, diversity, responsibility, fair trade and sustainability.
Stoneyholme Pupil Parliament
Department for the Environment
Stoneyholme Primary School is committed to educating its pupils about caring for and respecting the environment and developing responsible citizens who are able to make valuable decisions. The Department for the Environment have a key role in achieving this through their action plan and in leading and supporting environmental actions and projects in our school. They also represent the whole school community, the Green team.Policy
Vision
Stoneyholme Community Primary is committed to educating its pupils about respecting and taking care of the environment, developing responsible citizens who not only understand the value of their small individual actions but how they can have a bigger impact working together as a community.
Intent
- To become more sustainable in the school environment and reduce the environmental impact of the whole school
- Promote environmental awareness
- To develop an awareness of global issues
- To develop a whole school approach in promoting environmental awareness – pupils, all staff, governors, parents and members of the local community
- To help create a shared understanding of what is needed to run a school in a way that respects and enhances the environment
- To help develop pupils’ decision-making skills
- To link environmental issues with the curriculum as well as the daily running life of the school
Implementation
Stoneyholme Primary School is a member of the Eco-Schools programme.
This is an international initiative that encourages pupils to engage with environmental and sustainable development issues. It provides a highly structured system for the environmental management of schools. The structure of the Eco-schools programme is made up of seven elements.
- The Department for the Environment (Eco Committee)
- School Environmental Review
- The Action plan
- Curriculum links
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Involving and informing the school and wider community in Eco projects and actions
- Eco Code
The Department for the Environment (Green Team leaders) drive the whole school in implementing the seven elements of the programme with support from the Eco duty bearers. They undertake the School Environmental Review and from this devise an action plan for the school. The curriculum is also integrated with the three topic actions. Progress is then regularly monitored and evaluated to assess the impact of their work.
They also have the responsibility to involve and inform the wider community of their actions and to produce an Eco Code which is agreed with the rest of the school which reflects their aims and ethos.
The programme covers the following topics: Biodiversity, Energy, Global Citizenship, Healthy living, Litter, Marine, School grounds, Transport, Waste and Water.
All pupils play an important part in the programme and become involved in participation and the decision-making to help improve the school environment.
At Stoneyholme we aim to link Eco-school activities into all areas of the curriculum in different ways and for the majority of them to take part outside the classroom, using one or more of the different areas of our school grounds (allotments, biodomes, willow dome, orchard, year group outdoor spaces, sensory alley and our Peace garden) or in campaigns involving parents and local community in areas surrounding our school grounds (streets, parks, allotments and the canal) Activities will be incorporated in lessons that link in with the different curriculum areas to embrace a cross curricular approach.
Along with regular updates and feedback from the Department of the Environment, we have a designated Eco board in the Hall for staff, pupils and visitors. Parents, governors and our wider community are kept informed either by text, email, newsletters, the school website, social media and the local newspapers.
Our Eco code is displayed in all areas of the classrooms, shared teaching spaces and communal areas to ensure all pupils, staff and visitors are aware of our Eco learning and actions.
The online application for our Eco-schools Green Flag Award will be completed throughout the year and then submitted for accreditation in the Summer Term.
We also take part in the following initiatives: WOW Walk to School challenge, Big Battery Hunt, Better Planet Schools and Green Trees for Schools
Impact
The impact of our Eco learning, projects and actions is monitored by:
- Achieving an Eco-schools Green Flag award with a Merit or Distinction
- Evidence collected through books and pages on our website
- Pupil discussions about environmental projects and actions
- The reduction of pollution and vehicles moving around our school entrance on March Street as our pupils are encouraged to walk or park and stride to school through WOW Walk to School challenges
- Through reports and monthly results on the WOW travel tracker
- All adults and pupils knowing and following our Eco code
- The reduction and recycling of our paper, plastic, ink, batteries and food waste
Curriculum Overview
Eco Code
Pupil Engagement and Voice
Walk to School Challenges
As part of our Stoneyholme Eco code, we encourage everyone to walk or park and stride to school every day to help improve their health and well-being and to reduce the congestion and air pollution around our school at the start and at the end of the school day.
To encourage and reward our pupils for their active journeys to school, we take part in the WOW Walk to school challenges, supported by the Walk to School Outreach project that is funded by Active Travel England (via Department for Transport).
The Walk to school challenge theme this year is:
'Walk with imagination' invites pupils to stretch their creativity, asking them to imagine a different walk to school. From soaring through the skies like an eagle to exploring the depths of the ocean, we want to inspire pupils to dream big while learning and embracing the many wonders of walking to school.
To enable us to monitor our progress through the challenges, our pupils record their journey to school every morning on the WOW travel tracker and at the end of the month if they have recorded three or more active journeys every week, they are awarded a badge. The travel tracker also allows them to monitor their own progress and how their class and the school are doing on the leaderboards.
WOW badges and Sustainability
The badges are made from recycled plastic material, including old fridge trays, plastic plates and even yoghurt pot cut offs and arrive in schools in environmentally-friendly biodegradable packaging.
Class of the month
At the end of every month, the class with the most active journeys receive the WOW trophy and a certificate to display in the their classroom.
Our class of the month winners:
Top Ten Challenges
We also take part in the Autumn, Spring and Summer Top Ten challenges. The challenges last for a month and at the end of the month, the Top Ten schools are listed on the WOW Top Ten leaderboard. Our aim this year is to top the leaderboard on the Autumn, Spring and Summer Top Ten Challenges, following topping the leaderboard in the Summer term.
- Autumn
For International Walk to School Month in October, we took part in the Autumn Top Ten challenge. Here are the results:
Here at Stoneyholme we are very proud to win the Autumn WOW Top Ten leaderboard.
Secretary of State, Department for the Environment
- Spring
The next Top Ten challenge will take place in February 2025.
For more information about Living Streets and the Walk to school challenges, please click on the link below:
https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/walk-to-school/primary-schools/
I love walking to school with my family and getting my badge.
Year 2 pupil
Our Big Battery Hunt
The Big Battery Hunt is a nationwide recycling challenge that inspires pupils to power change across the school and wider community.
All classrooms and shared areas have a battery box for staff and pupils to recycle their used AA, AAA, C and D batteries in school or from home.
To keep count of the number of batteries we are recycling, every Friday the Green team leaders count the number of batteries and put them into the battery recycling tube in the hall. They then message on Seesaw the number of batteries so that they can be added to the total.
The batteries are then collected by Portable Battery Recycling for Valpak.
The number of batteries we have recycled so far is: 558
