Today the KS2 Eco Reps went on another litter pick in our local area. We began by litter picking at school and were dismayed to find so many sweet wrappers on the school driveway. The Eco Reps thought that some of the wrappers had been dropped by children and wondered why parents did not make their child pick up their rubbish and put it in the bin. This is something we will be discussing in our Eco Rep meetings after the Easter Holidays.

We were joined by a member from the Twiggs team and we litter picked along Park Street and the local housing estate. Yet again the Eco Reps were appalled with the amount of litter, especially in the salt bins and at the bus stop by school. There were lots of bottles, cans, sweet wrappers and other general rubbish discarded behind it.

The Eco Reps would like to complete a final litter pick in the summer term. Thank you Eco Reps for caring and making a difference to our community!

A few months ago we were lucky enough to secure some trees from the Woodland Trust to plant at school. Today some of the younger Eco Reps in school accompanied Miss Clementson and Mrs Greenhalge to the Nature Area to plant them.

The saplings were planted alongside the path and will create a hedge over time for insects and other wildlife to live in.

Classes will study the saplings over time to notice how they change and will observe them throughout the seasons to see how they change as well.

These saplings will support our ecosystem and help to provide a richer habitat for animals and plants.

Thank you Mrs Greenhalge for all your help and support today!

Last year our bid for some trees from the Woodland Trust was successful and our trees are now on the way! These will be planted as hedging in the nature area for all year groups to observe and learn about nature through the seasons as well as throughout their time at Park Street.

Keep watching this space for more details. The trees should arrive by the middle of March and the Eco Reps will arrange a planting session. Photos and updates to follow!

Today some of the Eco Reps went to the Nature Area to plant some bulbs ready for spring. We know that we need to attract bees and other wildlife to our habitat to keep it rich and the ecosystem thriving.

We decided where we needed to plant them and dug holes for the bulbs and covered them over. We chose to plant a variety of daffodils, tulips and crocuses.

We loved planting and even found some worms! We were very excited, especially as it was one Eco Reps first time holding one!

After planting we explored the nature area to see if we could see any signs of spring. We found crocuses, bluebells and snowdrops growing and there were some buds beginning to grow on trees!

​Here are some photos of our activity!

Today the Eco Reps took part in The Big Schools' Birdwatch organised by the RSPB. We were joined by Mrs Greenhalge who brought her wealth of knowledge about birds!

First we visited the school field and saw lots of magpie's and some crows. We then visited the Nature Area and used our spotter sheets to tick off all the birds we found. Some of us were lucky enough to see a robin perched on the fence but most of the birds were a lot larger. At one point we saw 6 magpie's fly and rest in the trees and a very large wood pigeon! The smaller birds were harder to spot as they darted about but we think we saw a blue tit and a sparrow!

We collated our results and sent them to the RSPB so they can have a bigger picture about what birds are flourishing in our environment and what birds might be in decline. We discussed this being very important so we can change our environment to support and encourage birds that might be in decline.

We will be awarded with our certificates in assembly and have our bird feeder making session to look forward to on 19th January.
​

All parents in school should have received a letter today about a competition the Eco Reps would like to run in school.

The reps would like to highlight the issue of recycling and encourage more people to do this. Each class will collect recycling from home and create a sculpture within their art lesson. These sculptures will be judged by the Eco Reps and the most creative and wonderful sculpture will win! The Eco Reps are yet to decide on the prize but are excited to collect the recycling instead of it ending up in the bin and then on landfill sites.

Please collect any recycling you can (see the letter) and hand it to your child's class teacher. The sculpture will be made after Christmas and may take a few art sessions to complete as all children will be involved.

Watch this space for the winner and the fabulous photos!

To make our school more eco-friendly and attract wildlife we are in the process of applying for some free trees from the Woodland Trust.

These will hopefully go in our nature area to make some hedging so all classes can learn about growing and planting and observe how they change over the seasons and throughout their time in school. They can take part in bug hunts too and EYFS classes will be able to learn about them during their weekly welly walk!

Please keep your fingers crossed that we are successful!

As everyone enjoyed the KS2 litter pick so much, Twiggs Ground Maintenance have agreed to return and accompany us on another!

The date for this will be Thursday 30th March so plenty of time to prepare!

A letter will be going out to those involved nearer the time but make sure you make a space in your diary!

Today the Eco Reps met to discuss issues that concern us within school.

Firstly, we spoke about how to save energy. The Eco Reps are going to speak to their class and collect any ideas they have for saving energy within school. Each Eco Rep has been given some posters to display in their classroom to remind children to recycle paper, turn taps off and turn lights off when no-one is in the room. The reps were also keen to talk about turning the classroom lights off on sunny days to save electricity. They also spoke about keeping classrooms warmer by closing windows and doors to keep the heat in and will be sharing that with their class. Another issues they would like to tackle is making sure that teachers turn off their whiteboard and computer when not in use, especially at lunchtimes and when they go home.

Another issue raised was the amount of waste packaging that we now have. The Eco Reps decided they would like to arrange a competition in school to highlight the issue of rubbish and recycling. Each class will be asked to bring in boxes, bottles, plastic lids and anything else that can be recycled from home. They will then create a sculpture in their art session which will be judged by the Eco Reps to see which is the most creative. The winning class will receive a prize decided by the Eco Reps! More details about this will follow!

Finally, the Eco Reps decided what they would like to do with the money they found on their litter pick yesterday. It was decided that we would use the money to buy ingredients to create some winter bird feeders as food is scare in the winter.

The reps enjoyed their meeting and will meet again in a couple of weeks to further discuss the issues above and feedback any energy saving ideas their class have.