Eco Council

It is a great honour to be only one of a very few schools to have been retained the Eco-Schools 'Green Flag' for 7 years. Last year, we were awarded the 'Green Flag with Distinction' award for the first time, reflecting the sustained improvement and development in this area, led by the pupils.  We are hugely proud of this achievement and commitment to ensuring we look after our world properly. 

At The New Forest School we believe it is vital to take responsibility for our planet. Each class has two Eco Councillors who have been elected by their class.  At KS2 there is also a weekly Eco Club which is attended by the KS2 Eco Councillors and other interested children.  The Eco Club members make up the Eco Council who, led by Mrs Barnes, work throughout the year to raise awareness of their initiatives throughout the school.  The members of the Eco Committee are:

                          

We follow the Eco-Schools model to ensure that standards are high and that we are covering all areas.  Below can be found the School Environmental Review, carried out by the Eco Committee in September, and their resulting Action Plan for the year.  This year's focus will be Transport, Litter and Marine; however we will continue to work in all areas of the award. 

Action Plan 2023.24

School Environmental Review

 

Activities that we have taken part into achieve our 'Green Flag' Status

Energy-Free Days

During the Autumn and Spring term, each class across the school completed a day's work without using electrical devices such as laptops and the SmartBoard.  Lessons were adapted accordingly.  Many of the classes spent the day with the lights turned off!

Walk to School Initiative

Following on from the successful Walk2School week last year, the School Council and Eco-Committee have worked together to make active journeys to school a permanent feature.  Each day, every child logs how they travel to school using the Living Streets Travel Tracker.  Active journeys logged count towards a reward badge which is awarded each month.  Pupils can earn a badge if they make one active journey each week.  

Crisp Packet Collection

This year, our school has continued to collect crisp packets and soft plastic which can be recycled at larger stores.  Several members of the community now send their crisp packets into school to be recycled.  The soft plastic has been taken to Waitrose in Romsey to be recycled.  Weekly updates are given in assembly on a Friday.

Pupil Leadership

Members of the Eco-Committee in each class have presented two presentations to their class.  One presentation was about the dangers to marine life with an accompanying art competition.  The second presentation was about reducing litter; each class voted on a measure to introduce next year to reduce the amount of litter in school. 

KS2 site school grounds 

Volunteers from the school community have given up their valuable time to improve the school grounds, planting bee-friendly plants on the flowerbeds and containers.

Hot Composter and the Parish Council

The Hot Composters donated by the parish council last year have continued to be used daily.  Food waste and shredded paper are composted on site and will be used within the school grounds by the gardening club.

  

Litter-picking

The school have purchased litter-pickers for each site.  A ten-minute litter-pick is carried out as part of each Forest Friday undertaken by each class.

Bikeability

Year 6 have undertaken Bikeability training to ensure they are safe to cycle on the roads.  They will be encouraged to cycle to school where it is safe and possible to do so,

Eco-Club

A weekly Eco-Club has been running on both school sites throughout the year to raise awareness of the importance of the environment.  Recycling crisp packets, watering indoor plants, gardening and planning new initiatives have been activities carried out each week during Eco-club.

Should Plastics Be Banned?

The kitchen staff had audited their use of single-use plastic.  Where they have been unable to stop using it, they have recycled the soft plastic with the crisp packets.

 

The choir have learnt some new songs linked to the dangers of plastic to marine life.  They performed these to the school during the autumn term.  

Walk 2 School Week

This proved to be very successful, with almost every student taking the opportunity to walk or 'Park and Stride' to school for at least part of the week.  Plans are in place to develop this further next year.

'Twenty Is Plenty' Campaign

Councillor Damien Swancott is in the process of arranging the winning posters from the Twenty is Plenty poster competition to be made into signs that will be displayed along School Road to encourage safer driving in the vicinity of the KS2 site.

Councillor Zoe Clewer

Following last year's presentation to the parish council, Councillor Zoe Clewer has shared our composting initiative with other schools in the local area.  We have provided details on how to access the subsidies to purchase hot composters at a reduced cost and these have been shared by Councillor Clewer with local Salisbury schools.