aims of the presentation overview of the eco schools programme how it can benefit your school travel...
TRANSCRIPT
Aims of the presentation
•Overview of the Eco Schools programme
•How it can benefit your school travel plan
Eco-Schools - BackgroundEco-Schools - Background
Developed by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in 1992 following the Earth Summit in Rio
The summit concluded that there was a need to involve young people in finding solutions to environmental and sustainable development challenges
Eco-Schools was introduced into the UK in 1994
Eco-Schools operates in 53 countries to date
There are over 40,000 Schools registered world-wide
More than 10,000 schools have achieved Green Flag status globally
More than 17,000 schools are working towards achieving green flag status in England
Over 1600 schools currently fly the green flag in England
The Eco-Schools Framework, Topics and Awards
Ten Topics
Transport
Waste
Water
Litter
School Grounds
Global Perspective
Healthy Living
Energy
Biodiversity
Green Procurement
Awards
Bronze
Silver
Green Flag
Seven step Framework
1. Eco-Committee
2. Environmental Review
3. Action Plan
4. Eco-Code
5. Involving the whole school & wider community
6. Linking to the curriculum
7. Monitoring & Evaluation
New role
Ambassador
Bronze & silver level Awards → self-assessed. School completes online and prints out certificateGreen Flag Award →Online award renewal (every 2 years) with an assessor visiting the school. The school receives a certificate and a Green Flag
AwardsAwards
Eco-Schools Ambassador Role – for schools which have held a green flag for at least 2 years → promote best practice
1. Role of Eco-committee1. Role of Eco-committee• Composed of pupils (all year groups), staff
(teaching & non-teaching), senior management, parents & governors
• Meet at least once every half-term• ideas generation, decision-making, raise
issues, check on progress• Must be led by pupils who chair meetings,
decide agenda and lead projects – empowering, encouraging creativity
• Adults’ role to support (not dictate)
2. Environmental Review2. Environmental Review• Pupils/Eco-committee must carry it out• Must cover all 10 Eco-schools topics• Schools can use their own or download
templates from website• Results are recorded, discussed with Eco-
committee and should inform Action Plan• Results are communicated to whole school• Carried out at least 1x every 2 years
3. Action Plan3. Action Plan• To cover in detail at least 3 topics in detail
(including Energy – compulsory)• For G.F renewals to add 2 more topics• Drawn up by Eco-committee • Responsibilities shared between pupils,
staff & parents• Timescales included• AP communicated to whole school
4. Eco-code4. Eco-code• Mission statement/sustainability
policy• Should be short and memorable
(some schools produced rap)• Pupils can produce with staff (e.g
class competition)• To cover as many topics as possible
5. Involving whole school & 5. Involving whole school & wider communitywider community
• Prominent Eco-schools notice board• Regular communication (assemblies
– run by pupils, posters/displays, newsletters, campaigns, events
• Inviting wider community to events builds better relationships
6. Linking to curriculum6. Linking to curriculum• Topics to be included in daily
lessons/in curriculum planning• Resources for teachers available on
Eco-schools website and The Pod.• Pupils can be involved in designing
leaflets/posters (Art/English), graphs/data analysis & collection (Maths/science), planning safe routes (Geography)etc.
7. Monitoring & Evaluation7. Monitoring & Evaluation• Data collection, surveys and analysis • Important for pupils to be actively
involved • Some data used in curriculum work• Targets set based on results• Results & targets communicated with
whole school (esp. successes and achievements) via assemblies, noticeboard, newsletters,etc.
Examples of Examples of monitoring/evaluationmonitoring/evaluation
• Check lights left on, taps dripping, etc.
• Create surveys (travel, waste, energy use)
• Bills/meter readings• Weighing waste• Before & after pictures (school
grounds, litter, biodiversity)
Assessment visitAssessment visit• Tour of school (led by pupils – usually
from Eco-committee)• Show evidence of progress (file,
displays, photos, curriculum work, lesson plans, up-to-date STP)
• Speak to Eco-schools coordinator, senior management & other pupils if possible
Main advantages of Eco-schools Main advantages of Eco-schools method for STP Championsmethod for STP Champions
• Gets whole school actively involved in Travel Plan (not all down to one person)
• Ownership of projects to pupils and parents → higher chance of achieving targets as interested in results
• Sustainable travel habits will extend outside school → pupils and families will be fitter & more active
• Wider community/neighbours more likely to support TP initiatives (e.g. parking management, speeding, engineering measures, etc)
For more information about the programme visit www.keepbritaintidy.org/ecoschools/
For free resources: http://www.jointhepod.org/