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 pack in!

Our eco councillors were selected at the very beginning of the school year and we held our first meeting at the end of September. In our second meeting, we chose our 3 focus topics: Global Citizenship, Healthy Living and School Grounds. Pupils, staff and parents/carers were then invited to contribute their ideas for actions we could take on these topics. These ideas were all taken into consideration and helped us to build our Eco-Schools Action Plan.

For the Global Citizenship topic, we chose to learn more about another part of the world, raising awareness and money to support the animals that live there. We hosted a polar themed Wear It Wild Day, collecting money for WWF. During the day, there was a special assembly by Mrs Bull and a polar inspired lunch menu. The children took part in class activities including making cardboard tube penguins and designing arctic food chain booklets.

The Eco-Committee also created a display that says "Welcome" in all of the languages spoken at PDP. We hope that this helps to make all of our school community feel included.

For our Healthy Living topic, we focussed on mental health and keeping active. All children took part in a wellbeing session, provided by Coram. We also celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week and took part in Odd Socks Day. Amy, our Family Support Worker, shared some useful resources on helping children get enough sleep and arranged a free sleep clinic for parents to attend. Our work with OPAL has also helped to support the children's mental health, providing diverse play opportunities at lunchtime.

We also increased our sports provision. In the Spring Term, we welcomed sports coaches into Parsons Down. They came in every Friday to lead dance sessions and run lunchtime clubs. We also held house sporting events on our Outdoor Classroom Day.

Our final Eco-Schools topic was School Grounds and we took on a number of actions for this. In November, the Eco-Committee planted bulbs in our sensory garden to provide flowers for pollinators in the springtime. In February, we planted a willow dome at the back of the field. In March, we planted 21 trees at the Nature Discovery Centre to replace the ones they lost to ash dieback. In the Summer Term, we installed a bird house in our wild garden and a bug hotel in the sensory garden. Mrs Dillon led a gardening club and Mrs B installed and planted out an upcycled planter outside the POD with help from some Year 5 pupils.

Once all our actions were complete, the Eco-Committee worked on this year's Eco-Code, which reflects our chosen topics:

Exercise, eat healthily and look after your mental health

Caring for our world matters

Our school helps pollinators thrive

We also took part in Cut Your Carbon, No Mow May and 30 Days Wild as well as meeting with our cleaning company, Service Master, and collecting items for our local food bank.

Well done Eco Team! You've been absolute superstars!