is year, the staff and children have been working hard on their topic actions for Eco-Schools. Out of the 10 Eco-Schools topics, our pupil led Eco-Committee selected Energy, Litter, School Grounds, Waste and Water.
In the Autumn Term, we collected crisp packets that were then sent off to a charity that makes them into blankets for the homeless.
One of our Year 6 Eco-Councillors also wrote to our Finance Manager, Mrs Lewis, to ask for a wider range of recycling bins so that the Partnership can recycle more different types of items. Mrs Lewis responded to say that she was planning for the school to have bins for plastic, metal and food waste, alongside the paper recycling bin that we already have. This will be implemented in September.
Throughout the year, every class has increased the amount of time they spend learning outside. On Thursday 20th May, we took part in Outdoor Classroom Day, where the whole school spent time outdoors taking part in learning activities, including wild reading, observational drawings, World War 2 drama, outdoor measuring and campfire cooking.
We have also spent time developing a shared school garden – our aim is to have a raised bed area for each Year Group to grow things in. To help with this, we have acquired a second-hand compost bin and Mr Vincent, our Site Manager, has set up a water butt to collect rain water.
We have also just recieved our certificate for taking part in 30 Days Wild this June.
Next year, we will focus on starting to make compost – learning what can and can’t go in the bin as well as the science behind making good compost.
This Term, we are in the process of running a competition to encourage each year group to bring in donations for West Berks Food Bank, highlighting the issue of food waste. The winning Year group will be rewarded with extra playtime at the end of term. The Food Bank collections have been very successful so far.
We also started lunchtime litter picks in the Summer Term, with our newly appointed litter monitors taking it in turn to pick litter around the fields and playgrounds each week.
We also hope to team up with local volunteers, Thatcham Litter Pickers, in the next academic year to arrange a family litter pick outside the school. In the meantime, we are encouraging our families to adopt an area near where they live to litter pick over the Summer holidays and beyond. There will be further news on a Summer Litter Picking Competition very soon.
We are really proud of everything we have achieved so far. Thank you to all staff, parents and children - especially our Eco-Councillors - for all the hard work that has gone into making Eco-Schools a big part of life at Parsons Down this year.
We will continue with our Eco Actions next year and will apply for our second Eco-Schools Green Flag in the Summer of 2022.