Eco-Schools June newsletter
It’s been a busy few months here, and we’re excited to update you on it all. Exams are coming to an end (phew) and the summer is almost upon us. But before you start writing up your schemes of work for next year, take a look at the exciting new Eco-Schools developments.
Brand new Eco-Schools CPD training - ‘How to become a successful Eco-School’
Teaming up with water education centres across the country, we are very excited about launching our new CPD for 2017/18.
The training, beginning this Autumn, will show you everything you need to know, and the confidence to transform your school into a truly successful Eco-School. Whether you’re a new Eco-Coordinator, working through bronze and silver, or at a school with multiple Green Flags - find out more and sign up for a training day near you.
The numbers are adding up
We’ve been so happy to see an increase in schools pledging to become more environmentally friendly this year. Since January, we’ve had a whopping 318 new schools register to start their journey towards becoming an Eco-School. Welcome to all of you joining the programme.
We’ve also sent out over 150 Green Flags to be proudly flown above our schools. We are now in our busiest period of the year – with over 80 Green Flag assessments booked in before the end of term.
Striking gold in the garden
Our brilliant headline sponsors, Diversey Care, are working through the Eco-Schools award criteria. This month they got out in to their ‘school' grounds to plant up marigolds that staff have been nurturing since February.
We are soon featuring in the Education Business Magazine with Diversey Care, profiling all the easy ways schools can incorporate more environmentally friendly cleaning practices – there so much that can be done.
We want to say a big thank you to Diversey Care for their continued help in supporting us to do what we do – keep your eyes peeled for some exciting updates on the partnership coming very soon.
Take your Waste topic further, with the Home Recycling Challenge
At the end of June, your school could be selected for an out-of-this-world experience. Children’s TV presenter Maddie Moate and Captain Busta from Wastebuster, will visit one lucky primary school - just for taking part in the Home Recycling Challenge. Not to mention the £1,000 prize for the winning school at the end of the competition in September. We’ve also outlined all of the ways the challenge can help you with achieving Eco-Schools awards.
The Challenge is simple:
1. Register to receive the Challenge sheet
2. Set it as a whole-school home-learning task
3. Tell Wastebuster the number of sheets you have collected
Making a difference on transport and travel
We know that transport can sometimes be a tricky topic to tackle, so we’ve linked up with the charity Modeshift to make it easy to put your travel plans in place and give you evidence for Eco-Schools too.
Modeshift’s excellent national STARS programme is focused on supporting schools to put together a unique package of sustainable transport measures that best suits the individual circumstances of the school and the community that it serves.
The benefits of implementing sustainable travel at school are far and wide, including improvements in physical activity levels, boosting local air quality, reducing congestion and enhancing road safety. As well as contributing to improved health and social well being of pupils, parents, staff and the wider community.
The next deadline to get accredited is 31st July, so there is still plenty of time to complete your application. If you want to take your transport topic further, and are interested in taking part, visit www.modeshiftstars.org or email starscomms@modeshift.org.uk
New resources just for you
We’re excited to have linked up with STEM Learning to improve our resources. Each topic now has resources that make the link between activities or projects done for Eco-Schools and STEM. Download them from our website and let us know what you think.
We’ve also popped a few new bits of inspiration from our friends at Chester Zoo on our biodiversity topic page. And our school grounds partner, GROW, have just updated their page on our site, which includes some brilliant curriculum-linked outdoor fun.
Want to make the most of your school grounds this term? Want to do it for free, with ease and link up with a national biodiversity drive? We’ve linked with the BLUE campaign aimed at ‘rewilding’ parts of the UK to encourage wildlife to flourish.
As ever, get brilliant, free resources - all curriculum linked and perfect for Eco-Schools - from our friends at the Pod. Register with them for free today if you’ve not already.
And in other news ...
Pinterest: Have you seen our new Pinterest boards yet? Packed with quick inspiration for the nine topics of Eco-Schools we’ve set them up to be live and dynamic with ideas from across the world. If you’ve got great ideas you want to share, do it on Pinterest, tag us in it and we’ll help share them around the world.
New Eco-Schools badges: Want your Eco-Committee to stand out around school? We have brand new metal badges available to buy. They are priced at £2.50 each – and can be ordered on the Keep Britain Tidy shop. Get yours now.
Enjoy the sun – keep it green and as ever, email or call us if you need any support or have any questions.
The Eco-Schools team
Eco-schools@keepbritaintidy.org
01942 612614
