Writing our Eco Code
Our school’s Eco Team met this week to discuss ways in which we can help the environment whilst in school. We discussed current issues surrounding the price of gas and electricity and how we can make savings in school to save money and energy. The team then worked on designing their own posters to display around the school to remind everyone of how they can help. Some of the ideas that we came up with were:
- Turning lights off when we don’t need them
- Turning monitors off when the computers aren’t being used
- Making sure doors are kept closed
- Making sure taps are turned off properly
- Try not to waste too much paper and remember to recycle
Linking recycling to helping the homeless
During one of our Eco Group meetings it was decided that we could link two important areas together – recycling and helping the homeless. We discovered that a lady in London was recycling foil crisp packets to make into ‘Bivi bags’ – a sleeping bag. Mrs Ashcroft, Ginny and Bea, kindly offered to go along to a meeting in Bishop Auckland to learn all about the scheme and to take part in making a bivi bag. She then returned to school to feedback what she had learned to Mrs Lambard and Mrs Routledge. Now Mrs Routledge has set up a team of helpers in after-school club who clean, dry and cut the foil crisp packets that we have been collecting in school. She will then iron them together so that we can send the foil blankets off to London to be made into a bivi bag. Each bivi bags needs around 150 crisp packets!
Earth Hour
Earth hour is a worldwide movement organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour, from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.
This year Earth Hour will take place on Saturday the 30th March. We are asking everyone at Wolsingham Primary to make a promise for Earth Hour. Your actions matter! Make a promise for the planet and help us turn small actions into big change.
For more information visit www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour
Big Battery Hunt
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e are taking part in the Big Battery Hunt. This is a nationwide battery recycling challenge ran by Duracell. The scheme is in its second year of running and we have up until the end of May to make our collections. By doing so, we will have the chance to win some fantastic prizes such as:
- A 2-night class trip to the sustainability centre
- A 3-year subscription to MyMaths worth £1,000
- £2000 worth of school equipment vouchers
- iPads
- Certificates and trophies
As part of the scheme Duracell are looking for some ‘Battery Pioneers’ – these are pupils that really get behind the challenge and encourage others to do the same. Anyone who goes the extra mile with their battery collecting could win some extra prizes, such as iPads! So, if you need any extra boxes or do something special make sure you come and share it with Mrs. Wilkinson!
Bottle Top Recycling Scheme
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hen the Eco Team met this week they discussed the ongoing issue of plastic in our oceans and in landfill sites. Mrs Wilkinson explained about the new scheme set up by the Lush Handmade Cosmetics Company where they are now collecting used plastic bottle tops in order to recycle them. At present the scheme is domestic rather than business, so our Eco Team are urging you to collect them at home, pop them into an envelope or box and send them free of charge to FREEPOST LUSH GREENHUB or alternatively take them along to your nearest Lush shop (Sunderland, Metro Centre or Newcastle). The bottle tops are melted down, pressed into board and made into useful things from wall cladding to furniture and beehives. They’ve even been used to make a play area at a refugee camp in France.
Just a reminder that we are continuing to collect bottle tops in school too in preparation for some recycled wall art in our outdoor classroom – so please feel free to keep sending them into school too. Any leftover bottle tops will be sent to the Lush recycling scheme.
If you would like any further information about the scheme there are some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ri25e8MwlI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3traCazu_A
ECO Poster Competition Winners
Children were asked to design a poster which promoted saving energy earlier this half term. Entries were of a high standard and the following children won themselves a special eco prize of some recycled stationary.
Our eco winners were: Elliott from Year 1, Lexi from Year 2, Ellie Mae from Year 3, Jessica Harker from Year 5 and Caitlin Pounder from Year 6.
Well done to all those who submitted an entry.
Switch off Fortnight Competition
Our school is supporting Switch Off Fortnight this year and our Eco Team are running a poster competition to raise awareness of saving energy in the home and in school, and to give a lucky person from each year group the chance to win an eco prize.
Children have been asked to design a poster which highlights the importance of saving energy by carrying out simple every tasks. Have a look at the following PDF for some energy saving hints and tips!
Save Energy at Home Fact Sheet
Completed designs need to be handed back to their class teacher by 7th December. The Eco Team will judge all entries on Tuesday 11th December. Good luck!
Eco Code
Our Eco Team have been busy this week thinking about and writing the new Eco Code for this academic year. In our meeting we discussed what we need teachers and children in the school to remember with regards to saving energy. We decided that the most important things were – turning off lights, closing classroom doors and making sure the computers are not switched on all of the time. They then created a poster which will be displayed in every classroom and office in school.
Help us adopt a snow leopard
Our Eco Team have decided that they would like to adopt another animal this year and after researching the many endangered animals they voted for the snow leopard.
The snow leopard is under threat for many reasons, including being hunted for its skin and bones and being targeted by farmers protecting their livestock. Its habitat is also in decline due to global warming.
To help us in our venture, we will be raising money through a game designed by some of our Eco Team– Where is the Snow Leopard Hiding? Keep your eyes open for news about this in school!
Eco Club
We have been very busy in Eco Club this half term.
First we talked about how the season was changing and how we need to help feed the birds, so we made some ‘special recipe’ (lard and bird seed) bird feeders and hung them around our school grounds.
Then we learnt about how the insects; including bees, need somewhere to hibernate over the winter so we made some bee homes using tin cans and rolled up paper and Mrs Kitching gave us some us hotels which we plan to hang around the wildlife garden very soon.
We have also been out and about litter picking – keeping our school grounds and surrounding area super clean.
The Big Bluebell Watch
Following our Eco Team meeting on Tuesday 1st May, the Eco Warriors would like to let people know about The Big Bluebell Watch. You can be part of the Woodland Trust’s most accurate bluebell survey ever.
Between now and the end of May, add your sighting to their online recording tool. Whether you’ve only got one or many, they would love them to be included.
Your records will help to monitor the status of the UK’s bluebells over time and will help them to secure the future of native bluebells and their woodland home.
From ancient woods to your back garden, look out for bluebells and put your sightings on the map on their website:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/bluebell-watch/
Switch Off Fortnight
Our Eco Warriors presented an assembly to the whole school to kick start Switch Off Fortnight. They told everyone about how energy is easily wasted in and around the home and ways we can help to stop this. They ended the assembly by setting a challenge for the whole school. They asked everyone to create a poster to inform people about saving energy and protecting our planet. The best ten posters will then receive a special limited edition ‘Zingy’ keyring!
In the meantime everyone is making sure we turn off the lights and monitors in the classrooms to save electricity and we are trying our hardest to keep doors closed to keep our school warm.
ECO Warriors 2017-18
Here is our Eco team for 2017-18. Every lunchtime they go around our school checking that teachers and children have turned off their computer monitors and lights when not using them and that they are saving energy by keeping their classroom door closed. Classes are awarded points on how many energy saving things they do and the class with the most points wins the company of our school Eco Bear; he is given out in our special Friday assembly.
Adopt A Panda
After our Eco Team presented the assembly on Earth Hour they chose a winner for our ‘name the adopted panda’ competition. All of the names of the people who entered were placed into the hat and the winner was….Evan Johnson in Year 2. He won the lovely soft panda toy and his name for our adopted panda this year is….Barry!
The Eco Team would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who entered the competition and helped us raise enough money to send to the WWF. We are now eagerly awaiting details of our adopted panda; which should come any day soon – so watch this space!
We had an extra special end to our assembly. James Harker in Year 6 showed us his footage of a pheasant, rabbit and deer which he had recorded with his special camera that he had set up in the woods.
Earth Hour
Our school’s Eco Team presented a whole school assembly to tell everyone about the importance of Earth Hour 2017. They explained that if everyone turned off their electrical appliances for an hour on Saturday 25th March they would make a big contribution to saving our earth. We looked at famous buildings from around the world with their lights on, and then with them switched off. Then we thought of ways that we could help in school. Our Eco Warriors are going to be extra observant from now on when checking the classrooms to make sure we have all turned off our lights and computers when we are not in the room.
2017 Earth Hour Assembly
ECO Team Assembly
Some of our Eco Team presented an assembly to the whole school on Monday to promote our latest fundraising idea – adopt a panda. They did a brilliant job of telling everyone why pandas are endangered and how the money we raise can help them. We are hoping to raise £36.00 with our name the panda competition so that we can adopt our very own panda this year.
Tree Planting at Thornley Woods
A group of Year 5 and 6’s from our Eco Team travelled up to Thornley Woods with Mrs Wilkinson. There they met Anne and Laura from the Wildlife Trust who talked to them about the changes that were being made to the area. All of the evergreen trees had been cut down as they were blocking the lovely view and weren’t attracting any wildlife to the area. The Wildlife Trust; along with the Parish Council, are now in the process of redeveloping the area making it into a picnic and a wildlife rich area. We were shown how to plant the oak trees correctly, then we set to work. During the whole of the afternoon, we managed to plant 69 trees! We were very lucky that it was a dry, sunny day and the group of children worked extremely hard.
ECO News
Our school’s Eco Team are working very hard at the moment planning lots of events to raise awareness of local and global issues.
Firstly, they are planning a competition to raise money so that we can adopt a panda through the WWF. After our first meeting of 2017 they had a vote on which animal we would like to adopt this year and the panda came out top. Watch out for our name the panda competition coming very soon and you could win your very own cuddly panda soft toy!
Every year the Eco Team present an assembly to the whole school on the importance of saving energy and the effects global warming has on our planet. This year they will be doing the same and are hoping to present a novel way of saving energy to the rest of the school – so watch this space!
Finally, our litter picking team have had to work extra hard around the school playground during the Spring Term – please ensure all litter is put in the rubbish bins provided.
ECO Assembly
Our Eco Team carried out an assembly on Monday 14th November morning to tell the whole school all about Switch Off Fortnight. They told everyone about the dangers of global warming and how we can all work together to help reduce it. Switch Off Fortnight starts on 14th November and everyone in school; and in particular our Eco Team will be making an extra effort to turn lights and computer monitors off when they aren’t needed and close doors to keep the heat in.
2015/16
The Story So Far
The Eco Warriors had a busy start to the year. Each day in school they carry out their Eco duties, checking in classrooms that all lights, interactive whiteboards and computers are not left on unnecessarily.
Back in September we had a Carbon Reduction Carousel, where the whole school got involved and learned all about saving energy and discovered where some of our everyday foods come from.
They then wrote and presented an assembly to the whole school about Toilet Twinning, then designed a sponsored event ‘Run to the Loo’ for everyone in school to take part in and raise money to provide toilets in developing countries. A massive £800.00 was raised; which resulted in us being able to buy a toilet block and nine toilets – thank you again!
School then received thirty saplings from the Woodland Trust. So the Eco Warriors wrote a letter to the Parish Council to ask if we could plant them in the village. This was agreed and the Eco Warriors went down to the riverside with Jeff and Mr Marshall and they planted all thirty of them.
What’s Next?
The Eco Group recently had a meeting to discuss their next project. They have decided that they would like to take part in Clean for the Queen and Earth Hour.
Clean for The Queen
Clean for The Queen is a campaign to clear up Britain in time for Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday, which will be officially celebrated in June 2016.
When she came to the throne litter was not the problem that it is today. Food packaging, plastic bottles, takeaway meals and cigarette butts have all contributed to a growing menace that affects our wildlife, streets, countryside and sense of pride. What better way could we show our gratitude to Her Majesty than to clean up our country?
Clean for The Queen weekend is March 4th, 5th and 6th 2016 and the Eco Warriors are looking into cleaning an area of our village.
They are also inviting all the pupils in our school to enter the competition to design a Clean for the Queen poster, they are to use their imagination and think of a design that would make people stop and read their poster, with the ultimate aim of encouraging people to stop littering. The winning designs will be used all over the UK.
Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a campaign to encourage everyone around the world to turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday 19th March; 8.30pm – 9.30pm. Our Eco Warriors are currently planning a whole school assembly to present to everyone to inform them of why it is an important campaign.
Here are some things you can do every day to help change climate change. Try them out, share with your friends and family, and use #YourPower today!
1. You can reduce your individual carbon footprint by taking public transport or cyclo-commuting whenever possible. With cities responsible for a staggering 70% of our planet’s energy-related carbon emissions, we all need to do our part!
2. Stop consumption of phantom energy by turning off your electrical appliances when they’re not in use. Electronics on standby can account for up to 10% of your home electricity usage. By eliminating consumption of phantom energy, you’ll consume less electrical energy and save a heap on electrical bills in the long term.
3. Reduce your carbon footprint even further — make the switch to greener, sustainable LED light bulbs or to renewable energy.
4. Here’s something we all can do — at work, in school, and at home — reduce paper wastage! Use recycled paper as much as you can, and remember to set your printer settings to “two-sided”.
5. Refuse, reuse and recycle plastic bags when you go shopping. Buying a pack of cookies or a bar of chocolate at the convenience store? Ditch the plastic bag at the checkout counter! Even better, bring your own reusable bag along when shopping for groceries. In 2014, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador became the first province in the country to ban the use of plastic bags and other disposable packaging. If an entire province could do it, so can you!
6. Make a conscious effort — buy what you need and reduce food wastage. When we don’t eat what we have, we not only waste food; precious resources including biodiversity and animal habitats are harmed too. In addition, climate change can drastically affect our food supply.
7. Come together to show the world what the collective power of the crowd can do. Use Your Power and take action. In 2014, WWF Singapore raised over $20,000 to help prevent wildlife crime. This is just another example of the collective power of the crowd, which is the spirit on which Earth Hour is built.
8. Get the word out and tell your friends and family about Earth Hour!
Remember, Earth Hour is not only about turning off our lights once a year. It symbolises our commitment to take immediate and collective action to change climate change. Every small action, when combined with millions of others, has a huge, tangible impact.
