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Eco-Schools
Parsons Down Partnership takes part in Eco-Schools - a global environmental programme with 19.5 million involved. It is a pupil led programme, run by an Eco-Committee comprised of children and staff. There are ten Eco-Schools topics for the Eco-Committee to consider:
For 2024-25, we chose Global Citizenship, Healthy Living and School Grounds as our Eco-Schools topics.
To find out more about our eco achievements, please read our blog posts towards the bottom of the page.
Our Eco-Committee 2025-26
Our pupil Eco-Committee members are: Lucy C (Zebra Class), Orla S (Woodpecker Class), Harrison D (Sabre Class), Daisy H-S (Badger Class), Lennox F (Jaguar Class), Edie P (Raccoon Class) and Cameron H (Eagle Class).
Our Deputy Eco-Committee members are: Lilly R (Zebra Class), Joey W (Woodpecker Class), Immy K (Sabre Class), Julia P (Badger Class), Rosie P (Jaguar Class), Zunairah W (Raccoon Class) and Nicola M (Eagle Class).
Paperwork
Action Plan
Eco Action Suggestions
Ideas from Parents, Staff and Pupils
Monitoring and Evaluation
Eco-Committee Meetings
Eco Assemblies
Curriculum Links
Please let us know if you would like to help or contribute in any way to our Eco-Schools work. If you have any suggestions that you would like to share, please contact our Eco-Coordinator directly: EcoCoordinator@pdp.w-berks.sch.uk.
Eco-Blog
Great British Bird Watch
Mrs Bull led assemblies today about the RSPB Great British Bird Watch which takes place across the country over the weekend. Some of our younger pupils were so inspired they started at lunchtime! We didn’t find many birds in our school grounds but hopefully you’ll have more luck this weekend! Happy twitching!
Jan 23
Eco Christmas Ideas
The Eco Council led last Monday’s assembly and gave us some top tips for how to have a more environmentally friendly Christmas including: making homemade gifts and decorations, reusing decorations, shopping locally and trying to minimise food waste.
Dec 18, 2025
Cut Your Carbon Results 2025
Thank you to all families who took part in Cut Your Carbon this year. We had 12 children complete the checklist, resulting in 143.71 kgCO2 e of carbon savings. This is roughly equivalent to driving an average car about 350-400 km (around 220-250 miles), powering an average UK home's electricity for 1-2 months or making 14,000 cups of tea! We would love to encourage even more families to take part next year. Please let us know, via our Facebook page , if you have any ideas to
Dec 12, 2025
Year 4 Letters About Deforestation
Year 4 have written some very passionate letters to Luiz da Silva, President of Brazil, about deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. "I am writing you this letter because I am not very happy. I would like you to stop chopping down the trees." - Freddie "The rainforest is home to indigenous people - if you destroy it, where will they live? We are losing 5000 species a year due to deforestation. Cutting down trees creates more carbon dioxide, droughts and a rise in global temp
Dec 9, 2025
Eco Committee Meeting
In our Eco Meeting this week, we talked about how we can have an eco friendly Christmas. The children had lots of brilliant ideas which we have put into a PowerPoint to share in assembly next week. We also made some environmentally friendly Christmas crackers which the eco councillors were able to take home to enjoy over Christmas!
Dec 4, 2025
The Good Grub Club Recipe 2: Tuna and Tomato Pasta Bake
Pupils have really enjoyed cooking Sausage & Bean hotpot this term and have been excited to take the ingredients home to re-create the same recipe! Our next recipe is Tuna & Tomato pasta bake which, again, is budget friendly, easy to make and provides a good balance of vegetables, protein and carbohydrates. You can substitute the sweetcorn for fresh veggies or other tinned vegetables. We would LOVE to see what children are making at home so please send any photos through to..
Nov 28, 2025
PDSA Christmas Jumper Sale
The PDSA are hosting a pre-loved Christmas Jumper Sale on Friday 5th December, after school. The sale will take place on the playground, near the field. All jumpers will be just £2 each!
Nov 28, 2025
Planting daffodils on the roundabout
Yesterday, with the help of Mrs Dillon, our Eco-Committee planted over 100 daffodil bulbs on the school roundabout. They had great fun finding the pre-prepared holes and dropping the bulbs in. We then covered each one up with a handful of compost. We can't wait to see the daffodils flower in the Spring! We have already planted some verbena and rudbeckia around some of the trees on the roundabout. We also plan to put bluebells and forget-me-nots around the edge and sprinkle so
Nov 25, 2025
Week 4 of Cut Your Carbon
This week, for Cut Your Carbon, we are focussing on "Cool It" and "Ditch The Drive". Lower your washing machine temperature to 30°C for three washes across the month. Washing machines are energy-hungry! Drop the temperature to 30°C for three washes this month and cut carbon without sacrificing clean clothes. Make any three journeys ‘active’ across the month. Transport creates nearly a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions. Active travel - such as walking, scooting, wheeling,
Nov 24, 2025
Pre-loved Christmas Jumper Sale
The PDSA will be hosting a Second-hand Christmas jumper sale on Friday 5th December. Please bring in any jumper donations to reception before this date. Many Thanks.
Nov 21, 2025
Eco Committee Meeting
In our Eco Meeting today, we talked about: Our Action Plan for this year Schools Grounds and planting bulbs on the roundabout next Monday Cut Your Carbon Litter picking at lunchtimes and whether it is being done
Nov 18, 2025
Week 3 of Cut Your Carbon
This week, for Cut Your Carbon, we are focussing on "Veggie Vibes". Make 3 evening meals plant-based across the month. Meat production is responsible for around 14% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, so make three evening meals plant-based and discover how delicious cutting carbon can be!
Nov 17, 2025
Reverse Advent Calendar Challenge
West Berks Foodbank Reverse Advent Calendar This is a lovely idea that is great for teaching the value of giving at Christmas. Pick one item a day to donate to the Foodbank and deliver to them on or before Monday 22nd December. See the West Berks Foodbank website for further details: https://westberks.foodbank.org.uk/2025/11/02/reverse-advent-calendar-challenge/ West Berks Foodbank 12 Gifts Of Christmas The Foodbank are also asking for Christmas food parcels to make sure ever
Nov 14, 2025
Week 2 of Cut Your Carbon
This week, for Cut Your Carbon , we are focussing on "Device Free" and "Drop It Like It's Hot!" . Have a device free day - this is a tricky one for many of us! However, electricity makes up about 25% of your home’s carbon footprint so not using your devices for a day can make a big difference to the environment as well as saving you money. To complete this action, simply power down non-essential devices for one day — no gaming, no streaming — and rediscover the joy of offl
Nov 10, 2025
The Good Grub Club Recipe 1: Sausage and Bean Hotpot
This half term sees the official launch of The Good Grub Club, a joint initiative delivered by Parsons Down and supported by the West Berks Foodbank designed to educate, empower and inspire pupils to get cooking! Our first recipe is Sausage & Bean hotpot: All our recipes use budget-friendly ingredients and are nutritionally balanced, often providing 2 or 3 portions of vegetables. Ingredients usually come dried, in tins or jars, which means they are PERFECT for the days
Nov 7, 2025
Eco Conscious Swimmers
Our Upper School swimmers had noticed a lot of litter on their route to swimming every week. This prompted one of our Year 5 Eco Councillors to do something about it. He raised the issue with Mrs Hoskins and she agreed that the group could litter pick on their way home from swimming in the week before half term. We are really proud of everyone who took part and of Lennox for having this great idea to clean up our environment.
Nov 7, 2025
Can You Cut Your Carbon?
The Eco Council would like to challenge families to take part in "Cut Your Carbon" during the month of November. This is a carbon-cutting challenge encouraging young people and their families to complete six simple actions to raise awareness and reduce their carbon footprint. Children from years 1-6 will be provided with the following checklist as a 2Do on Purple Mash: This can either be filled in on Purple Mash or printed out (please let us know if you would like a paper cop
Nov 4, 2025
Foodbank Total
I am delighted to let you know that our Harvest Festival collection for West Berks Foodbank weighed in at 106.8kgs . More importantly, it represents the equivalent of 224 meals that Parsons Down Partnership has provided for local people who are currently experiencing extreme hardship. It was so kind of you and our support was very much appreciated by the team at West Berks Foodbank.
Nov 4, 2025
Eco Committee Meeting
Today we talked about our eco ideas for this year. Mrs Hoskins had a really good idea to litter pick on the way to swimming! We can't wait to get started on this! We are going to write a recipe book with Mrs B and plant some trees and flowers.
Oct 21, 2025
Eco Tips to keep wildlife safe this Halloween
Keep pumpkins away from wildlife: Pumpkins are not a natural food source for most wildlife, and they can cause illness or fatal dehydration in animals like hedgehogs and deer. Use wildlife-safe decorations : Avoid artificial cobwebs and decorations that animals can get tangled up in. Turn off lights : Extinguish decorative lights when they are not in use to avoid disrupting nocturnal wildlife.
Oct 17, 2025
Little Recyclers Clothing Collection
Thank you to everyone who brought bags in for yesterday’s collection!! Thank you also to everyone that helped move bags into the shed and out for collection!
Oct 17, 2025
Harvest Festival Donations
A huge thank you to everyone who supported this year’s Harvest Appeal for the West Berkshire Foodbank. Your generosity will make a huge...
Oct 10, 2025
Eco Committee Meeting
Today was our second Eco Committee Meeting and we went through our annual Environmental Review which had been completed by classes. We made the decision to focus on the following topics this academic year: Healthy Living Marine School Grounds We are looking forward to gathering ideas for these topics. If you have any suggestions, please email our Eco-Coordinator, Miss Hargood: ecocoordinator@pdp.w-berks.sch.uk .
Oct 7, 2025
Repair Café Event This Weekend
Newbury and Thatcham Repair Cafe - Sunday 28th September 2025 Newbury Methodist Church, 2:00-4:30pm This month, the Newbury and Thatcham...
Sep 26, 2025
Eco Committee Meeting
Today was our first eco meeting and we talked about the topics we can choose this year. We also introduced ourselves and wrote our...
Sep 23, 2025
Flourishing Herbs in the Pod Planters
Despite a very hot and dry summer, The Pod Planters have continued to flourish with hydration from our newly installed water butt. The...
Sep 9, 2025
Learning about herbs
The Pod planters have really sprung to life with pupils using the newly installed water butt to keep plants happy in the heat! We have...
Jul 18, 2025
Green Flag with Distinction
Today was our last eco assembly of the year. Mrs Bull, and our eco councillors, recapped all of our eco actions for the year. We also...
Jul 14, 2025
Wear It Wild Total!
Great effort everyone! Thank you for helping us raise money for this amazing cause.
Jul 11, 2025
Eco-Committee Update
Today in our eco meeting, we talked about all the things we've done this year to help the environment. We answered 2 questions for our...
Jul 3, 2025
Our Year Of Eco Actions
Well, it's been another busy year of environmental actions for our Eco-Committee. I'm always amazed by the amount that we are able to...
Jun 30, 2025
Upcycled Planters for the Pod
We are very excited to have been able to plant up the space outside The Pod with some pollinator friendly plants in our 'upcycled'...
Jun 26, 2025
Eco-Committee Update
Today, in our eco meeting, we discussed the relevance of wildlife, caring for our world and being healthy. We used this to help us write...
Jun 26, 2025
Polar Themed Wear It Wild Day!
Yesterday, Parsons Down hosted a Wear It Wild Day in support of WWF . We had a polar theme which kept us cool on one of the hottest days...
Jun 20, 2025
Wear It Wild - Just Giving page
Next Thursday (19th June) is our Wear It Wild Day , organised by this year's Eco-Committee. There will be a polar regions theme. Children...
Jun 13, 2025
Eco-Committee Update
In today's eco meeting, we spoke about Wear It Wild Day which will be on Thursday 19th June . We are going to have a themed lunch on the...
Jun 10, 2025
30 Days Wild 2025!
Are you ready for 30 Days Wild in June? We will be taking part as a school but you can also sign up to take part at home . Once signed...
May 23, 2025
Outdoor Classroom Day 2025
Yesterday was our annual Outdoor Learning Day. In the morning, the children took their learning outdoors, we even had assembly outside....
May 22, 2025
Eco-Committee Update
Today, we had another eco meeting and talked about what we would do for Wear It Wild Day on 19th June. We decided to wear polar colours...
May 9, 2025
Eco-Committee Update
Today, we had an eco meeting and we were talking about good areas to put the bug house and bird box given to us by Miss Shepherd when she...
Apr 29, 2025
Eco-Schools Update
Today, we had an eco meeting and spoke about the voting for the part of the world we want to do for Wear It Wild. Mrs Bull revealed that...
Mar 25, 2025
Global Citizenship Assembly
In this morning's assembly, Mrs Bull informed staff and pupils that we will be taking part in an environmentally themed animal day in the...
Mar 21, 2025
Eco-Council Meet Service Master
On Tuesday, our pupil eco-committee met with Service Master - the company who clean our school. This meeting was initiated by Jennifer,...
Mar 14, 2025
Badger Class Minstead Day 3 🦡🥰
Their bags are packed, beds stripped and Badger Class are all ready for their final morning at Minstead. They’ve had a fabulous 3 days...
Mar 7, 2025
Badger Class Minstead Day 2 🦡☀️🌳
After a mixed night’s sleep, the children awoke ready to explore the New Forest. They had so many questions about the New Forest it was...
Mar 6, 2025
Tree Planting at the Nature Discovery Centre
Today, we took members of the eco-council to the lakes to plant trees in the area next to the car park. This area was affected by ash...
Mar 6, 2025
Badger Class Have Arrived! 🦡☀️
Badger Class have arrived safe and sound at Minstead Study Centre. They’ve already been put to work making their beds and lunch. They...
Mar 5, 2025
Hedgehog Class Wave Goodbye to Minstead 🦔🥰
After a fabulous three days exploring the New Forest in the spring sunshine, Hedgehog class are making their way back home. The weary...
Mar 5, 2025
Hedgehog Minstead Day 2 🦔🌳☀️
Day 1 finished with songs around the campfire in the impressive roundhouse. Everyone woke this morning to another beautiful day in the...
Mar 4, 2025
Hedgehog Class Have Landed-Minstead Day 1
What a beautiful day to explore the New Forest! The children arrived mid morning, made their lunch which they ate in the sunshine and...
Mar 3, 2025
Planting daffodils on the school roundabout
Plant, seed and bulb sale at Christmas Fair
Newbury Weekly News Article
About Ocean Protectors Day
Planting daffodils on the school roundabout
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Learn together. Grow together. Succeed together.
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