Tarleton Community Primary School

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Eco Team

Trout in the Classroom Project

Year 3 worked with the Ribble River trust to grow and nurture 100 trout eggs in their classroom over the spring term. The River Ribble Trust first delivered a very informative workshop session about the life cycle of trout, the conditions they need to survive and then left them with the trout eggs in a tank. Year 3 watched the eggs hatch and turn into alevin and then into fry. Just before Easter, they released them into the River Douglas. They also had the opportunity to make observations of invertebrates collected from the river on the release day. Year 3 have enriched their learning of biodiversity and life cycles. 

BOOK SWAP on World Book Day - Sustainable Deeds

The Eco Team are keen to make our reading habits better for the environment! Therefore, as it was World Book Day on Thursday 7th March, they organised a book swap in school. Children brought their preloved books to swap for another!
Our book swap event was a great way to share our love of reading and discover exciting new books in a sustainable way.

Tree Planting

The Eco Team have been busy, planting trees in one of our outdoor areas! Despite the rain, cold and slippery mud, we had lots of fun! We are very grateful to the team from LCC who have provided us with a variety of trees to enhance our green space. Thanks too, to the wonderful Geraldine, who came to help us!  

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch

The Eco Team took part in the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch again this year. This is a simple bird survey which is about counting the number of birds in our school grounds. We made bird feeders the week before we undertook our survey, to attract our feathered friends to our Forest Schools area. We spotted a few different birds - it was very exciting!! We submitted out results to the RSPB online to let them know what we'd seen!

Sustainable Stationery 

We met with Phil from Nexus who introduced us to his sustainable range of stationery. Y3 and Y6 have been trialling reusable glue sticks this term - when the glue runs out, you replace the glue in the original container. All glue refill containers are sent back to Nexus where they are reused and refilled!! Genius!!! We roll these out to all classes after Christmas!

Christmas Fayre

We raised lots of money for future eco projects in school - through the sale of kindly donated preloved Christmas jumpers and other items. We love that these items are reused and not ending up in landfill!!

Toilet Twinning Project - November 2023

With the money raised from the Eco Team's cake sale last week, we have been able to twin one of our toilets with one in Nigeria. Thank you for your support, this will make an incredible difference to so many people!

The Eco Team ran a cake sale today (21.11.23) to raise money for a Toilet Twinning Project as part of our Global Citizenship work. We raised an AMAZING £88!!!
Thank you to everyone who supported us and for the very kind and generous donations.

We can now take action to support the UN's Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring everyone has safe and accessible toilets by 2030. We can help by twinning one of our toilets with one that can be built in a country that needs one. We can help to fund a project in a community that helps families to build their own basic toilet, access clean water and learn about hygiene. This will save lives.
We will now vote as a school to decide which country we want to support. Watch this space for further information on how our fundraising has helped..

Meet our 2023 - 2024 Eco Team... 

Y6 Chair: Alice Rhodes           Y6 Vice Chairs: Ollie Forder & Freya Marshall           Y6 Secretary: Isla Cookson

Y5: Rowan Hull, Julio Gomes, Joseph Whiteside, Alfred Rothwell

Y4: Evie Cook, Freya Riley

Y3: Eli Bonfiglio, Pippa Alvey, Libby Hull, Matilda Gallimore, Esme Smethurst

GREEN FLAG ACCREDITATION 2023!!

TCP has once again been awarded a coveted Eco-Schools Green Flag. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an international accreditation that recognises efforts to raise environmental awareness amongst young people, whilst taking action to make their school more sustainable. We have now retained our status as an accredited Eco-School. The Eco Team here at TCP, with the rest of our school community, have worked hard on a number of projects over the last academic year, some of these include:
- the development of the Forest Schools area to promote biodiversity
- recycling initiatives such as 'The Big Battery Hunt' and Christmas jumpers
- litter picking and writing to our local MP to support a ban on the use of disposable vapes, after finding so much waste linked to these, on the track next to our school
- raising awareness of the effect of plastic waste on marine environments
- raising money to donate to the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake appeal.
We are very passionate about doing all we can to protect our planet and look forward to making further impact this academic year.

Summer Term 2023

Year 3 - Wildflower seed planting

Year 3 decided to undertake an eco project after reading 'Omar and the Bees' story. They were inspired to plant a wildflower corridor in our school garden to encourage pollinators to visit.

Litter Pick

We undertook a litter pick on the track alongside our school grounds. We were horrified to find so much of the waste we collected was linked to disposable vapes. In support of environmental charities who are campaigning for a ban of these items, we wrote to our local MP expressing our concerns. See the letter below. 

Sea Life Sea Savers Competition

As part of the Sea Life Centre's national competition, we collected throw away plastics and used them to create a marine themed piece of art work. This was part of our work to raise awareness, in school, of the need to recycle plastics in order to ensure they don't end up in landfill. This picture below, on display in one of main corridors, is our entry.

The Big Battery Hunt

Duracell's 'The Big Battery Hunt' is a nationwide programme to help educate and inspire young people to recycle more used batteries. We have used their resources to help teach the importance of recycling and to take part in the challenge. With the help of our local community, we collected almost 500 batteries, which have been taken for safe recycling instead of ending up in landfill! 

Spring Term 2023

*UPDATE: Our very own Isla Cookson, in year 5, is one of the two runners up in the competition and will receive a prize. Well done Isla!!!

Fundraiser in aid of earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria - 15.3.23

The Eco Team organised a non-uniform fundraiser and cake sale in aid of the Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims. Together, our community raised an incredible £219.59 which has been transferred to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Fabulous effort!

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch

The Eco Team took part in the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch again this year. This is a simple bird survey which is about counting the number of birds in our school grounds. We made bird feeders the week before we undertook our survey, to attract our feathered friends to our garden. We spotted a few different birds - it was very exciting!! We submitted out results to the RSPB online to let them know what we'd seen!

Autumn Term 2022

Christmas 2022

At the Christmas Fayre, the Eco Team sold the unwanted Christmas jumpers that had been donated to us from our school community.  Here at TCP, we are passionate about reducing, reusing and recycling, where we are able to. Indeed the environment is one of our six main school curriculum drivers.

Christmas jumpers trigger huge levels of waste. Most Christmas jumpers are made wholly or partly of plastic materials which is hugely damaging to the environment. 

We also created a 'Poke the Christmas Tree' game with a prize every time to generate some funds for future Eco projects in school. 

We tidied up our Jubilee garden and planted some daffodil bulbs ready for the Spring. We decorated the tree with red, white and blue unwanted Christmas decorations - we're all about reusing unwanted items when we can. These brought some lovely colour to our garden in December!

Harvesting our delicious apples!

We've grown some lovely apples in the garden so we picked them and shared them out between the classes! 

Summer Term 2022

The Big Plastic Count - Greenpeace National Initiative

The Eco Team have recently been very concerned about the effects of plastic on the environment. Therefore, they took part in in ‘The Big Plastic Count’ organised by Greenpeace. This is the UK’s biggest ever investigation into household plastic waste. By counting their household plastic waste packaging for a week and submitting their results online, they have helped tackle plastic pollution. We applied to accompany Greenpeace to Westminster to have our say on plastic pollution but unfortunately, we were not selected. However, we have been asked to send our plastic footprint collages with a postcard outlining our opinions to Greenpeace so they can deliver our message to our MP when they go.  

Only 9% of plastic worldwide is recycled but we know that recycling alone cannot solve the plastic crisis. There needs to be less plastic in the first place. That’s why Greenpeace’s mission is for the government to set a target to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025 and to ban waste exports to other countries. We are proud to have supported them in their quest.

Growing Flowers and Vegetables 

We received the equipment we'd ordered with our Morrisons' Good to Grow tokens and swiftly got on to planting a range of seeds and plants. We're hoping for beautiful flowers and delicious fruit and vegetables!!

Sowing the seeds for a wildflower garden

The Eco Team wanted to support the birds and bees! Native wildflowers are not only beautiful but also attract pollinators and nurture the landscape for birds. Without native plants and the insects that co-evolve with them, local birds and wildlife couldn’t survive. Therefore we transformed one of our raised beds into what will hopefully be a haven for these creatures.

Spring Term 2022

A special tree to commemorate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee 

The Eco Team with School Council planted a special tree in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Children from each class also planted trees for our developing Forest School.

The Great British Spring Clean

The Eco Team took part in Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Great British Spring Clean’ (March). We collected lots of litter in the local area!

A gift from Japan - Planting a Cherry Blossom Tree

The Eco Team have planted a Cherry Blossom tree at the bottom of our school field. The tree is a gift (one of over 6,000) from the Japanese people to the people of the UK. It symbolises the ongoing friendship between Japan and the UK. The project was launched in the joint communique issued by the then Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Theresa May when the two met in Japan in Autumn 2017. The tree is a strong symbol of hope and friendship. The lasting legacy of the tree shows that even in the darkest days, we are planning and planting for the future and that as these trees grow and flourish, they will enrich our lives and future generations.

Bird Feeders

The Eco Team have purchased some bird feeders and have also made some of their own, using pine cones, to replace the damaged ones in our garden. We hope to attract many more birds and help them during the winter months. 

Fundraiser in aid of earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria - 15.3.23

The Eco Team organised a non-uniform fundraiser and cake sale in aid of the Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims. Together, our community raised an incredible £219.59 which has been transferred to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Fabulous effort!

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch

The Eco Team took part in the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch again this year. This is a simple bird survey which is about counting the number of birds in our school grounds. We made bird feeders the week before we undertook our survey, to attract our feathered friends to our garden. We spotted a few different birds - it was very exciting!! We submitted out results to the RSPB online to let them know what we'd seen!

Autumn Term 2022

Christmas 2022

At the Christmas Fayre, the Eco Team sold the unwanted Christmas jumpers that had been donated to us from our school community.  Here at TCP, we are passionate about reducing, reusing and recycling, where we are able to. Indeed the environment is one of our six main school curriculum drivers.

Christmas jumpers trigger huge levels of waste. Most Christmas jumpers are made wholly or partly of plastic materials which is hugely damaging to the environment. 

We also created a 'Poke the Christmas Tree' game with a prize every time to generate some funds for future Eco projects in school. 

We tidied up our Jubilee garden and planted some daffodil bulbs ready for the Spring. We decorated the tree with red, white and blue unwanted Christmas decorations - we're all about reusing unwanted items when we can. These brought some lovely colour to our garden in December!

Harvesting our delicious apples!

We've grown some lovely apples in the garden so we picked them and shared them out between the classes! 

Summer Term 2022

The Big Plastic Count - Greenpeace National Initiative

The Eco Team have recently been very concerned about the effects of plastic on the environment. Therefore, they took part in in ‘The Big Plastic Count’ organised by Greenpeace. This is the UK’s biggest ever investigation into household plastic waste. By counting their household plastic waste packaging for a week and submitting their results online, they have helped tackle plastic pollution. We applied to accompany Greenpeace to Westminster to have our say on plastic pollution but unfortunately, we were not selected. However, we have been asked to send our plastic footprint collages with a postcard outlining our opinions to Greenpeace so they can deliver our message to our MP when they go.  

Only 9% of plastic worldwide is recycled but we know that recycling alone cannot solve the plastic crisis. There needs to be less plastic in the first place. That’s why Greenpeace’s mission is for the government to set a target to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025 and to ban waste exports to other countries. We are proud to have supported them in their quest.

Growing Flowers and Vegetables 

We received the equipment we'd ordered with our Morrisons' Good to Grow tokens and swiftly got on to planting a range of seeds and plants. We're hoping for beautiful flowers and delicious fruit and vegetables!!

Sowing the seeds for a wildflower garden

The Eco Team wanted to support the birds and bees! Native wildflowers are not only beautiful but also attract pollinators and nurture the landscape for birds. Without native plants and the insects that co-evolve with them, local birds and wildlife couldn’t survive. Therefore we transformed one of our raised beds into what will hopefully be a haven for these creatures.

Spring Term 2022

A special tree to commemorate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee 

The Eco Team with School Council planted a special tree in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Children from each class also planted trees for our developing Forest School.

The Great British Spring Clean

The Eco Team took part in Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Great British Spring Clean’ (March). We collected lots of litter in the local area!

A gift from Japan - Planting a Cherry Blossom Tree

The Eco Team have planted a Cherry Blossom tree at the bottom of our school field. The tree is a gift (one of over 6,000) from the Japanese people to the people of the UK. It symbolises the ongoing friendship between Japan and the UK. The project was launched in the joint communique issued by the then Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Theresa May when the two met in Japan in Autumn 2017. The tree is a strong symbol of hope and friendship. The lasting legacy of the tree shows that even in the darkest days, we are planning and planting for the future and that as these trees grow and flourish, they will enrich our lives and future generations.

Bird Feeders

The Eco Team have purchased some bird feeders and have also made some of their own, using pine cones, to replace the damaged ones in our garden. We hope to attract many more birds and help them during the winter months. 

Autumn Term 2021

It's Good to Grow scheme with Morrisons

The Eco Team would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who collected Grow Tokens for us when shopping at Morrisons. We have redeemed the tokens for lots of free gardening equipment! We can't wait to start growing and planting again in the new year!

Christmas Jumper Swap

The Eco Team held a Christmas jumper swap. Many children swapped jumpers or donated some that don't fit anymore so we can pass them on to charity. Here at TCP, we are passionate about reducing, reusing and recycling, where we are able to. Indeed the environment is one of our six main school curriculum drivers.

Christmas jumpers trigger huge levels of waste. Most Christmas jumpers are made wholly or partly of plastic materials which is hugely damaging to the environment. Thank you to all those who have supported us. Hopefully this event will get bigger and better every year!

Spring Term 2020

Brockholes Eco Themed Event

Three representatives from the Eco-Team with Mrs Bradley and Mrs Rhodes went to Brockholes Nature Reserve to meet with children from other schools. They discussed the effects of climate change and the problems, causes and effects that plastic can have on the environment and wildlife. They created a giant 'art attack' of sea creatures using plastic items. 

They explored the reserve and spotted the wildlife there. They enjoyed bird-watching and made bird feeders. They made their own Eco banner in the woods using natural materials and created a pledge tree on which they placed leaves with written promises on of how to help our school become more eco-friendly. Watch this space to see how we make our promises become a reality...

Raising money for Australia

The Eco-Team helped to raise £360 for the WWF Australian Emergency Appeal and Koala Protection. Children were invited into school for a special MUFTI day for a £1 dontation. The Eco-Team led a brilliant, informative assembly and set up some 'Bushtucker Trials' which cost 50p to try.  Many brave pupils participated and put their hands in three mystery boxes to find a yellow star!!! Fortunately nothing in the boxes bit them!
Thank you for all your donations and support.

Autumn Term 2019

Other projects...

This term, we have continued to collect empty crisp packets - we can only ship them to Terracycle to be recycled when we've collected 5Kg so keep collecting them and bring them into school or put them in the special bin in the hall. We made some bird feeders and placed them around our school garden - the birds really do need our help at this time of year when food is scarce. Also have a look at our lovely winter pansies that we've potted up at the front of school.

Christmas Fayre

The Eco-Team were very busy at our Christmas Fayre! They had made and sold marshmallow penguins and polar bears which were dipped in our chocolate fountain - delicious! They were keen to encourage people to think about how these animals are affected by climate change at our North and South Poles. They also sold the remaining Christmas jumpers that had been donated and some of the remaining reusable bags that they facilitated designing last year. Also a very kind parent donated some tree bombs which were also sold. They made £139 profit - a brilliant effort!!!

Christmas Jumper Swap December 2019

Did you know that one in four Christmas jumpers purchased are either binned or are unlikely to be worn again once the festive season is over? Not here at TCP!  The Eco-Team held a Christmas jumper swap session. Many happy children bagged themselves another pupil’s hilarious jumper whilst their old jumper found its way to a welcome new home.

All leftover Christmas jumpers, that were kindly donated, will be sold by the Eco-Team at the Christmas Fayre. Any unsold will be given to the charity shop raising money for Queen’s Court Hospice.

A gift from Japan - Planting a Cherry Blossom Tree

The Eco Team have planted a Cherry Blossom tree at the bottom of our school field. The tree is a gift (one of over 6,000) from the Japanese people to the people of the UK. It symbolises the ongoing friendship between Japan and the UK. The project was launched in the joint communique issued by the then Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Theresa May when the two met in Japan in Autumn 2017. The tree is a strong symbol of hope and friendship. The lasting legacy of the tree shows that even in the darkest days, we are planning and planting for the future and that as these trees grow and flourish, they will enrich our lives and future generations.

Bird Feeders

The Eco Team have purchased some bird feeders and have also made some of their own, using pine cones, to replace the damaged ones in our garden. We hope to attract many more birds and help them during the winter months. 

Autumn Term 2021

It's Good to Grow scheme with Morrisons

The Eco Team would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who collected Grow Tokens for us when shopping at Morrisons. We have redeemed the tokens for lots of free gardening equipment! We can't wait to start growing and planting again in the new year!

Christmas Jumper Swap

The Eco Team held a Christmas jumper swap. Many children swapped jumpers or donated some that don't fit anymore so we can pass them on to charity. Here at TCP, we are passionate about reducing, reusing and recycling, where we are able to. Indeed the environment is one of our six main school curriculum drivers.

Christmas jumpers trigger huge levels of waste. Most Christmas jumpers are made wholly or partly of plastic materials which is hugely damaging to the environment. Thank you to all those who have supported us. Hopefully this event will get bigger and better every year!

Spring Term 2020

Brockholes Eco Themed Event

Three representatives from the Eco-Team with Mrs Bradley and Mrs Rhodes went to Brockholes Nature Reserve to meet with children from other schools. They discussed the effects of climate change and the problems, causes and effects that plastic can have on the environment and wildlife. They created a giant 'art attack' of sea creatures using plastic items. 

They explored the reserve and spotted the wildlife there. They enjoyed bird-watching and made bird feeders. They made their own Eco banner in the woods using natural materials and created a pledge tree on which they placed leaves with written promises on of how to help our school become more eco-friendly. Watch this space to see how we make our promises become a reality...

Raising money for Australia

The Eco-Team helped to raise £360 for the WWF Australian Emergency Appeal and Koala Protection. Children were invited into school for a special MUFTI day for a £1 dontation. The Eco-Team led a brilliant, informative assembly and set up some 'Bushtucker Trials' which cost 50p to try.  Many brave pupils participated and put their hands in three mystery boxes to find a yellow star!!! Fortunately nothing in the boxes bit them!
Thank you for all your donations and support.

Autumn Term 2019

Other projects...

This term, we have continued to collect empty crisp packets - we can only ship them to Terracycle to be recycled when we've collected 5Kg so keep collecting them and bring them into school or put them in the special bin in the hall. We made some bird feeders and placed them around our school garden - the birds really do need our help at this time of year when food is scarce. Also have a look at our lovely winter pansies that we've potted up at the front of school.

Christmas Fayre

The Eco-Team were very busy at our Christmas Fayre! They had made and sold marshmallow penguins and polar bears which were dipped in our chocolate fountain - delicious! They were keen to encourage people to think about how these animals are affected by climate change at our North and South Poles. They also sold the remaining Christmas jumpers that had been donated and some of the remaining reusable bags that they facilitated designing last year. Also a very kind parent donated some tree bombs which were also sold. They made £139 profit - a brilliant effort!!!

Christmas Jumper Swap December 2019

Did you know that one in four Christmas jumpers purchased are either binned or are unlikely to be worn again once the festive season is over? Not here at TCP!  The Eco-Team held a Christmas jumper swap session. Many happy children bagged themselves another pupil’s hilarious jumper whilst their old jumper found its way to a welcome new home.

All leftover Christmas jumpers, that were kindly donated, will be sold by the Eco-Team at the Christmas Fayre. Any unsold will be given to the charity shop raising money for Queen’s Court Hospice.

CHRISTMAS JUMPERS! Are you buying a new one this year? What are you planning to do with your old Christmas jumper? Don’t let them end up as rubbish in landfill sites…!

Help the ECO-TEAM make Christmas jumper days sustainable!! Bring your old, unwanted Christmas jumpers to school by Monday 2nd December.

Those children who donate an old, clean Christmas jumper may choose a different one from those collected, if they would like to do so, in a bigger size on Wednesday 4th December – ready to wear at our Christmas Fayre!!

Others will be given to charity to help people in need.

#reduce #reuse #recycle

#EveryTreeCounts Woodland Trust Initiative November 2019

The Eco-Team has signed up to the Woodland Trust’s plant a tree initiative. We are helping them to fight for the future of the planet by being one in a million people pledging to support tree planting this week. Trees are the ultimate multi-taskers, helping to combat the two environmental emergencies facing our planet: climate change and biodiversity loss.

Thank you to West Lancashire Voluntary Community Services who sourced us an apple tree and came to help us plant it at the end of our school field. We look forward to helping the environment and eating the delicious dessert apples that it will hopefully produce. #EveryTreeCounts

Halloween Costume Swap 16th October 2019

The Eco-Team had some very happy customers at our 'Halloween Swap and Share' session this morning. #recycle #reuse
We hope to run a similar session to swap Christmas jumpers next month. Watch this space...

World Mental Health Day - 10th October 2019

As part of our Mental Health & Well-being Day, the Eco-Team offered the children one of the special lavender bags they had made up and explained its calming properties. They also made a positive affirmation card ('I am kind to the Earth') for every child to remind them that the Earth has many benefits for our mental health and well-being. We reminded children to take the time to watch trees sway in the wind and to take a moment to watch the clouds in the sky or listen to the birds sing. Children reflected on why it is important to be kind to the Earth - we must look after it and it will look after us!

Eco Fair - Oct 2019

Thank you to Holmeswood Methodist Primary School for inviting representatives from our Eco-Team to attend their Eco Fair. What a fantastic time we've had! We listened to a brilliant talk from Greenpeace, reminding us of the importance of recycling and reducing plastic waste.A tree specialist told us how important trees are to our world and why we must protect them. We enjoyed toasting marshmallows - yummy! We took part in a mindfulness session where we appreciated how the miracles of our Earth can help us experience contentment by taking a minute to observe the natural world. We thought about action we can take on single-use plastics here in school and at home and we looked at a range of alternatives to plastic products. A really productive and enlightening morning that has given us lots to think about and will inform our action plan for this year!

Please HELP Chorley Hedgehog Rescue Centre

The Eco Team are collecting donations of much needed supplies for Chorley Hedgehog Rescue Centre to help the poorly hedgehogs who have been rescued recently - over 38 in September alone.They have run out of virtually all supplies.
The Rescue Centre are in desperate need of: NEWSPAPERS, SNUGGLIES (FLEECY PJ’S, HOODIES, SOFT TOWELS, ONESIES ETC), CAT/KITTEN BISCUITS , BUTCHERS CHICKEN CAT FOOD, VITACAT (MEAT FLAVOURS) and GOURMET CHICKEN AND LIVER CAT FOOD.
We have asked families to help us by bringing any of these items into school. We will arrange delivery to the rescue centre. All donations to arrive in school by Wednesday 9th October.
Many thanks for your support.

Thank you to all families and friends who have donated to Chorley Hedgehog Rescue. We collected a phenomenal amount which will go a long way to supporting the huge number poorly hedgehogs that are being looked after.

Summer Term 2019

School Grounds - Planting up our Summer Pots

The Eco-Team have potted up some lovely plants to complement our new smart looking doors at the front of school.

Recycling - Big Battery Hunt

The Big Battery Hunt competition closed today. We managed to collect an awesome 6603 batteries!

We had some very dedicated collectors. Joseph Hand collected the most with a total of 2705!!

We haven’t stopped collecting, although the competition has ended. Please continue to send your batteries in and the Eco-Team will ensure they are recycled. Every recycled battery helps the planet!

Spring Term 2019

Recycling Initiative - Big Battery Hunt

The Eco Team have launched the Big Battery Hunt. All children have been issued with a battery collection box and challenged to collect as many used AAA, AA, C & D batteries as possible. This is a fantastic nationwide battery recycling initiative funded by Duracell with some great prizes to be won for individuals and schools. As part of the Big Battery Hunt, we are looking for our best Battery Recycling Pioneers – these are pupils that really get behind the challenge and encourage others to do the same. If we have a pupil that has gone the extra mile with their battery collecting and would like us to submit their story then they could win an extra prizes such as an iPad!
The closing date is Monday 3rd June. Happy collecting!!

Recycling Initiative - Crisp Packets

The Eco Team introduced our new recycling initiative during an assembly. We have registered with Terracycle - an innovative recycling company that has become a global leader in recycling typically hard-to-recycle waste. As our first project, we have signed up to their crisp packet recycling scheme. Terracycle have partnered up with Walkers crisps to create a free recycling scheme which accepts all crisp packets.

The Eco Team would like everyone to bring in their empty crisp packets (and multi-bag crisp packaging) and put them in our special bin. For every 2 Kg of crisp packets collected, we can earn points which can be used to fund many charitable gifts, such as helping to provide nursery care for orphaned orangutans with 'Orangutan Appeal UK'.

The Eco Team look forward to recycling your hard-to-recycle waste!

Woodland Trust - March 2017

We have planted 30 trees at the end of our school field to add to the surviving trees which were planted two years ago - all from the Woodland Trust. We have planted silver birch, rowan and wild cherry saplings.

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch

The Eco Team have been busy preparing to undertake the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch. This is a simple bird survey for pupils to take part in and enjoy together. After spending two weeks making bird feeders and placing them in our garden and hedgerows, we counted the number of birds in our school grounds for one hour. We submitted our results to the RSPB and these results also contributed to 'Big Garden Birdwatch' – the world's largest wildlife survey. We have completed this activity as part of our work towards achieving our RSPB Wild Challenge silver award.   

Autumn Term 2018

Reusable Shopping Bags - December 2018

The Eco Team are committed to helping reduce plastic waste. They have facilitated the creation of reusable bags which feature the unique self-portraits of all the children in school. The bags look fantastic and were available to buy at the Christmas Fair. There are still some left. If you would like to purchase one, they are £4.50 each or two for £8.00. Tiny Treasures, Reception and KS1 have a blue design, LKS2 - years 3 and 4 have a red design and UKS2 - years 5 and 6 have a green design. Help reduce the use of single use plastics!

Achieving Eco-Schools Green Flag Status

Following the recent Green Flag award assessment, we received the news that our application has been successful! The assessor recognised how much time and effort our school invests into environmental education. We are delighted and can't wait to build on this further. We have lots of projects in the pipeline...watch this space...!

ECO SCHOOLS Green Flag Assessment - October 2018

On Tuesday 16th October, we welcomed Mrs Stewart, an Eco-Schools Assessor, and shared our school's Eco journey so far with her. She was very impressed with all the projects we are undertaking and how Eco-friendly our school is. She also gave us some very good ideas about how to develop our work. 

She decided that our school deserved the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award... we are very proud of our efforts and pleased they have been recognised to achieve this prestigious award. We are waiting for our certificate to come in the post!!

Improving the School Grounds - October 2018

 

Identifying trees in our school grounds - October 2018

We are working towards gaining the RSPB Wildlife Challenge Silver Award - this is our latest activity. We invited Eco friends to join us in a leaf identification walk around the school grounds. This counts towards the 'experiencing nature' strand of our journey towards achieving the Silver Award.

Clearing the School Garden

Children, parents, friends and staff all came together on Saturday 6th October to make improvements to our school garden. Many hours of weeding, cutting back, tidying and waste disposal was undertaken as the garden had almost transformed into a jungle over the summer holidays. See the slideshow below to see the 'before', 'during' and 'after' photographs. Everyone's efforts mean that the children can begin to use the garden again to enjoy and support curriculum work.

Clearing the Raised Beds

Over the summer holidays, the beds became a little overgrown. We spent some time with Mrs Rhodes cutting things back and harvesting the remaining vegetables. We have grown some lovely rhubarb. We found a very jumpy amphibian living amongst our plants too! 

Helping Nature - Bird Kebabs

As part of our work towards achieving the RSPB Silver award, we decided to make bird kebabs. No, no, that's not kebabs made out of birds! We made up many yummy kebabs of food (apples, wholegrain bread, cheese and raisins), hung them up outside in our garden, and waited for the birds to invite themselves for lunch!!

Meet the Eco-Team 2018-2019

We've elected and reformed our Eco-Team and roles have been allocated. Chloe Houlihan is our new Chairperson, Harry Ascroft is our Vice Chairperson, James Rhodes is our Secretary and Aimee Joyce is our Vice Secretary. Other class representatives include: Alice Rhodes, Alfie Hornby, Jess Bentley, Kaylee Cripps, Hannah Clarke, Lacey Cropper, Levi Jones, Lottie Phillips, Diogo Franco, Emily Heyes, Paul Sutton, Kjerstin Wick.

Summer Term 2018

We've achieved the RSPB Wild Challenge Bronze Award! July 2018

 Sensing and Exploring Nature - July 2018

As part of our RSPB Wild Challenge award, we undertook an experiencing nature activity. This involved evaluating how well B&Q's Garden Paint range does actually reflect the colours of nature. We used their colour palette to investigate this. We found that they matched perfectly!

Harvesting and tasting our produce!

We picked our broad beans and invited children to come and join us on the playground to sample them. Despite the heat, our plants are continuing to grow well... a big thank you to After School Club who have been helping with the watering. A few weeks later, we enjoyed picking our peas, broad beans, onions, courgettes and potatoes. 

Wild Flowers

We have used an area of our raised vegetable beds on the playground to grow some wild flowers. The raised bed in the garden that we had mostly cleared needs further work - we are hoping to plant bulbs in this and sow wildflowers in the next academic year.

The Eco-Team were keen to give bees, as some species are in decline or 'at risk', a helping hand by growing a few native wildflowers.

Monitoring Electricity Usage

We have been monitoring our usage of electricity for some time now and are pleased to announce that consumption has reduced this term following our assembly at the end of the Spring Term. The Eco-Team are evaluating how well classrooms are abiding to our newly revised Eco-Code on a daily basis.

Raised Beds

Things are growing well...already we have harvested a bunch of radishes...which the Eco Team were keen to try!

 

Pond Dipping

Following the clearing of our wildlife pond and the purchase of pond dipping equipment, classes were invited to use the equipment to help establish which living creatures are present in our pond. We found lots of life! We identified lots of different creatures using information and classification sheets. 

 RSPB Wildlife Challenge Award

As part of our work towards achieving the RSPB Wildlife Challenge Bronze Award, we invited pupils, during our Hedgehog Awareness assembly, to come and work with us to make Hedgehog shelters - 'Hog Houses'. Following the RSPB instructions to make these, lots of children joined the Eco Team to make some. The following week, we put them in the hedgerows at the end of our school field. Many children also made 'Hog Houses' at home and sent photographs in of their handiwork!  

 Hedgehog Awareness & Update Assembly

The Eco Team updated the school community with their news...

The whole school have voted to adopt a marine animal - either the dolphin or sea turtle. The results were shared - the dolphin won! The adoption certificate and information about the pod we've adopted from the WWF, using the money raised at the Christmas Fayre, is displayed on the Eco Board. The class that is deemed to be the best at following our newly revised Eco Code each week will be given the dolphin cuddly mascot to take care of.

The garden is very lively with birds nesting in the boxes we've installed and a duck has decided to hatch her ducklings by our wildlife pond. We have 13 very cute ducklings living right in the heart of our school. See the photographs below... We have put up tally charts, on the Eco board, to complete when a particular type of bird is spotted through the windows so that we can track our visitors. 

It is Hedgehog awareness week 6th- 13th May so the Eco Team reminded children of ways to help hedgehogs and of what to do if they found a hedgehog in trouble. We decided to show children how to make a hedgehog house and have invited pupils to our next meeting to help us make some to put at the end of our school field. Children have been given leaflets outlining instructions of how to make these hedgehog homes at home with their parents and the number for a local sanctuary if they should find a hog in trouble.

WWF Adoption

We used the money we raised at the Christmas to sponsor the Ileach dolphin pod in the Scottish Hebrides. Our adoption will help the WWF protect marine life, create more protected areas in key marine habitats and promote ways to reduce the accidental ‘bycatch’ of dolphins by encouraging the use of selective fishing gear.

Planting for Wildlife...

The Eco Team, with Mrs Rhodes, have been working really hard to clear a raised bed in our school garden so that we can sow some wild flower seeds. The bed was full of long grass and gravel which made the job very difficult...but we persevered and managed to clear most of it!  Watch this space for developments...

Raised Beds - April 

Mrs Alison Wall, a mentor from West Lancs Voluntary Community Services, has very kindly visited us twice since her initial visit at the beginning of the Spring Term. She worked with Mrs Moores and the Eco Team to plant a range of fruit and vegetables including strawberries, potatoes, red onions, peas, broad beans amongst other things.

Spring Term 2018

 Biodiversity Work - March 2018

Archie very kindly brought some frog spawn to add to our pond. Mrs Rhodes brought some bird nests and a box to provide a safe haven for birds wanting to a place to stay. We added these to some of the tree branches.

 Update Assembly - March 2018

The Eco Team led an update assembly to inform the school community about our projects including: revising the school's Eco Code; clearing the pond; working with a mentor from West Lancs Community Voluntary Services to make a good start to the growing season in the raised beds and planting bulbs at the front of school. As we are working towards applying for Eco-Schools Green Flag status, we are currently monitoring electricity usage and have appealed to the school community to help reduce the amount we use.

With the money raised from the Christmas Fayre, we have decided to sponsor a marine animal through the WWF. This is in response to what we discovered during our recent 'Darwin Day' about the amount of plastic that is in our oceans and the affect it is having on animals. The 'toy' animal which we will receive as part of the adoption pack will be the mascot of whichever class is judged to be the most eco-friendly each week. It is down to a whole school vote as to whether to adopt a dolphin or a sea turtle.

Improving the School Grounds

The Eco Team have undertaken an environmental review which has enabled us to see how well (or not) the school is performing across all nine Eco-School topics. This has helped us to gain a realistic picture of our current environmental and sustainability performance inside and outside of the classroom. From this review, we decided to spend some time planting some daffodil and crocus bulbs at the front of school and tidied up any litter that had blown onto our premises. Mrs Brookes, one of our parents, very kindly donated the bulbs that we planted - thank you!

Mrs Rhodes, another parent, is a very valued member of our Eco Team and she, with Mrs Bradley, helped us with the planting. 

Raised Beds

The Eco Team have been fortunate to receive further help to improve the raised beds from Mrs Alison Wall, a mentor from West Lancs Voluntary Community Services.

Alison worked with the Eco Team to help begin getting the beds ready for the growing season and undertake some seed sowing inside, where the children learnt about various types of seeds and the different techniques required. They planted some herbs and some rhubarb in the raised beds in a section of one of the beds. Watch this space for more growing projects...

Clearing the Pond

The environmental review also highlighted the need to clear the pond located in the heart of our school. This is a fabulous resource that we are keen to ensure is used frequently by all classes. The pond was thick with vegetation. Mrs Rhodes, a parent helper, has very kindly taken the lead in ensuring the pond is cleared to allow living things/ecosystems to flourish. We hope to encourage classes to use the pond and garden to enhance learning in many curriculum areas. We are looking into ways of facilitating further improvement of the pond - e.g. better covers and replenishment of rotten wood surrounding the edge. 

Autumn Term 2017

Christmas Fayre

The Eco Team decided to try and raise some money for future projects. They worked tirelessly to plant 80 crocus bulbs and decorate the pots to look like Rudolph. They also made a range of decorations and Mrs Bradley made a beautiful wreath which we raffled.

How do fireworks and bonfires affect pets and wildlife?

The Eco Team led an assembly to raise awareness - October 23rd 2017

The Eco Team delivered a fantastic assembly today, during which they explored how fireworks and bonfires can frighten pets and wildlife. They shared some top tips for helping animals to feel safe on bonfire night.


They also linked their message to our ongoing British Values work. They gave information about a Government Petition that was set up last year to allow the public to share their opinion that fireworks should only be let off on traditional celebration dates.

Because fireworks now occur at all times of the day and evening for many weeks during the autumn and winter, pet and animal owners struggle to keep their companion animals safe during this extended time.

Many people think it is unfair that animals have to experience stress and fear because fireworks are let off on lots of different nights not just the traditional nights.

A petition is a list that people add their names to if they agree with an idea. It's a way to make people in power listen when a group thinks something should be changed.

The petition got 104,038 signatures and the issue was debated in Parliament. Click on the link to watch a video that explains more about this… http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36467346

 

Advice for pet owners during the fireworks season Infographic - RSPCA

Advice for pet owners during fireworks season - An infographic created by the RSPCA

Harvesting our Vegetables - October 2017

During the summer holidays, our vegetables grew but unfortunately so did the weeds!! We managed to harvest some pumpkins, courgettes, apples, potatoes, beans and rhubarb. We also found some very exciting, living creatures in our beds! 

We have quite a task ahead of us to clear the weeds and get ready to grow new plants. Fortunately, we have a new parent on board the Eco Team - Mrs Rhodes - who will be very generously sharing her time and expertise to help us with the raised beds. We have also secured some mentor time with a lady called Alison Wall who works for West Lancs Community Voluntary Services. She will be coming to work with the Eco Team to develop the beds very soon.

Adding to our raised beds - June 2017

Mrs Walmsley and Mrs Russmann have very kindly passed some further plants to us for our raised beds. Many of the seedlings previously planted are not doing so well but we do have some beans and peas growing. We have added the new plants - rhubarb, pumpkins, courgettes and tomatoes. Fingers crossed that they grow well!

Planting our seedlings - May 2017

Following weeding and replenishing some of the top soil in two of our raised beds, the Eco Team worked really hard to transfer the seedlings that we had grown. Despite lots of TLC, some of the seeds didn't thrive into healthy plants.

Hedgehog Awareness Week - May 2017

 

The Eco Team planned and delivered a fantastic assembly which aimed to inform the children about hedgehogs, the reasons for their rapid decline and how they could help a hog in trouble. They also designed an information leaflet, which all pupils took home, to share with parents/carers to support and reinforce the messages delivered during the assembly. Thank you to one of our Governors - Dawn Forster - who brought this initiative to our attention, acquired lots of reading material for us and took a keen interest in this project.

If you find a hedgehog during the daytime, it is likely that it is in trouble.

Woodlands - a local sanctuary in Holmeswood, give useful advice on their website:

www.woodlandsanimalsanctuary.org.uk/hedgehogs 

 Developing our raised beds - March/April/May 2017

Following an audit, the Eco Team decided to improve the school grounds. They decided an area of priority was to develop the raised beds on the playground. Very kindly, one of our Governors - Robert Johnson, provided us with a range of seeds which we have planted. They are starting to grow and we will be transferring the seedlings to the raised beds shortly.

We have received a delivery of a one tonne grab bag of top soil/compost which has been funded by 'All About Food Ltd' - a local company in Skelmersdale. This will be used to replenish the beds with fresh soil before transferring the seedlings.

Woodland Trust - March 2017

Over the next 10 years the Woodland Trust is aiming to plant 64 million trees. We have planted 30 of these at the end of our school field!

We planted 10 Silver Birch, 10 Hazel and 10 Rowan trees.

Tree planting

Great British Clean Up #litterheroes

March 2017

We took part in the 'Great British Spring Clean'. This is an important campaign, in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, with one simple ambition - to bring together people from across the country to clear up the litter that blights our towns, villages, countryside and coastline.

With this in mind, we were determined to do our bit for our community. In just over an hour, we collected 12.5kg of litter from Hesketh Lane and Fermor Road. We were very proud of our efforts.

Great British Spring Clean