We are thrilled to announce, that over the summer holidays, we were awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award with Distinction, which is the highest level of accreditation and celebrates our dedication to environmental sustainability.
Our fantastic Eco Warriors chose three key topics to focus on: Waste, Global Citizenship and School Grounds. We joined together to lead the Eat Smart Project run by Bind, teaching pupils about responsible food consumption and reducing food waste; we celebrated Refugee Week with a very successful art and craft sale raising money for West End Refugee Services; and through our fantastic, creative Forest School initiatives, already embedded into the curriculum by Miss Bell, we highlighted our commitment to fostering environmental consciousness and community engagement, and we are incredibly proud of this achievement. The Green Flag Award is a testament to the hard work of our pupils, staff, and local community.
We are so proud to share the panel’s thorough feedback:
Congratulations on passing your Eco-Schools Green Flag!
Congratulations!!! Fantastic work! We are very pleased to tell you that you and your Eco-Committee at St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School have been successful in meeting the requirements for the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award. We reviewed your application and noted the following:
We are over the moon to be able to welcome another new school to the Eco-Schools programme. You have blown us away with the question you posed to potential Eco-Warriors. We loved the challenge set to design a sensory garden using their senses. With such a stiff selection process you will have amazing warriors dedicated to making your school more sustainable. We would have enjoyed seeing some of the designs and appreciate your amazing new team of Eco-Warriors. You have shown that you recognise the benefits of taking minutes so you have handed this role to the children which was wonderful to read. The Eco-Warriors worked collaboratively to complete the Environmental Review. This entailed walking around the school, pinpointing experts when needed, and successfully finding answers. The comprehensive review highlighted to the warriors the many impressive actions the school was already taking, much to their delight. The review also shone a light on the areas that still required work, giving the warriors determination to make further positive changes. Whilst perusing through your Environmental Review, we noted that there were no pupil comments. Next year, we would encourage pupils to write down their thoughts and ideas when completing it. Revisiting an annotated review provides an opportunity for reflection. When selecting the topics to include in the Action Plan the warriors took into consideration the location, resources, and external contracts. The final decision was school grounds, global citizenship, and waste. The Action Plan is bursting with activities and plans. You really have ignited the passion and interest of the young people with your school ensuring increased impact. It’s clear that whilst developing your plan consideration was given to how you could expand the reach of your Eco-Schools’ work to the local community – we love how many actions include working with guests, parents, and projects. The curriculum links supplied are a credit to you. You have planned a whole school activity for Refugee week. This week of learning was woven into the Eco-Schools topic of global citizenship. In English the students read or listened to books about asylum seekers and refugees, then wrote poems or songs about the difficult situations some people face. This flowed into art where the children created work inspired by the books. Another link we enjoyed was the school grounds topic. This was covered in maths and science. Maths analysed the litter that was collected and presented it in different ways, while in science the children planted vegetables and reminded themselves of life cycles, planted trees to cement their learning of photosynthesis, and analysed habitats. We loved looking through all the evidence you uploaded. You have had a brilliant year. While informing can be one of the more difficult areas of the programme, you have made it look easy. You have your Eco-Boards which look great. Just remember to keep it updated with your news, actions, and plans. Use it to show off all the great achievements. The warriors have conducted assemblies, done class presentations, put articles in the newsletter, and used social media. A selection of projects and charities you have worked with are Peace Crane, Kittiwake Projects, and The Magic Hat Café. The school has found creative and worthwhile projects to support. It comes as no surprise that pupil enthusiasm and engagement have been your greatest success. We have been on the edge of our seats reading your application. You’ve inspired enthusiastic young environmentalists who are excited about sustainability and empowered to make a difference. Your main challenge is one that anyone who works in an education setting is familiar with, lack of time! However, rather than giving up, you consistently strive to make a positive impact and that’s truly inspiring. The Eco-Schools’ activities you and your Eco-Warriors have delivered over the last 12 months will raise awareness, create an immediate positive impact, and change behaviours. Your waste topic has raised awareness of food waste, teaching about the impact and the need to reduce it. When producing the Eco-Code the creative writers produced poems, raps, and songs. The final one was selected by a vote. The song won because it is a reflection of your journey this year. We greatly appreciate how you’ve utilised your social media accounts to broaden the impact of your Eco-Schools’ initiatives. We cannot express the enjoyment we have gained, and the projects we have learnt about while assessing your application. Furthermore, we have no hesitation in awarding you an Eco-Schools Green Flag with Distinction.
As always THANK YOU very much for your hard work, we are so proud of all our schools and the collective achievements they have made to protect our planet for future generations. We look forward to working with St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School again next academic year to help you expand on your eco-actions and successes of this year.
Have a great summer break,
The Eco-Schools Team
Keep an eye out for our Green Flag Plaque 🙂
