Eco Council
Last year, our Eco Council managed to gain the Green Flag award which was a huge achievement. This year is also an exciting one for Cippenham’s Eco Council and the whole school.
This year, Cippenham’s main goals are:
To ensure the Eco Curriculum is embedded within the whole school curriculum. We want to ensure that any link to eco learning, whether that is in Geography, RE, Science or any other subject, is recognised by making the lesson slides green, so the children know that the lesson has an eco link. Evidence of our eco links in other subjects is recorded in each year group’s own eco book.
To arrange whole school events themed around an eco national date in the academic year. In November 2024, Cippenham took part in Cut Your Carbon (see below for more information).
To create a plan for how to effectively utilise the school allotment space and other spaces to increase biodiversity. Ms Ahmed’s eco club and the eco council are working on this. One way to increase biodiversity is through the free trees for schools and communities project that The Woodland Trust offers (see below for more information).
To reduce food waste produced by the school.
Free Trees for Schools and Communities
Cippenham School is incredibly lucky to have such a huge amount of green space even though we live in a busy town. In order to utilise this space, and increase biodiversity, the eco council successfully applied to The Woodland Trust’s free trees scheme. The eco council did some research and looked at a map of the school to determine a space where hedges could be planted and are awaiting a delivery of 105 saplings to be planted soon. Watch this space for updates of our planting project!
Food Waste
Food waste is a huge problem in the world with an estimated one third of all food produced being wasted. Food that is thrown away could be enough to feed people who really need it, and in addition to this, wasted food is an environmental concern as it causes dangerous greenhouse gases. Cippenham School’s eco council are working on ways to address the food wasted in our canteens at lunchtime. The children have been busy doing lots of research into this and are coming up with a plan of action!
Cut your Carbon
Throughout the month of November, the whole school took part in Cut your Carbon, an initiative involving 6 challenges to try and reduce our carbon footprint. Challenges included things like ‘no power hour’ which meant switching off all non-essential electrical items, and ‘veggie vibes’ which involved going meat free. The eco council did an amazing job at promoting the initiative by creating colourful posters that they stuck up around the school; each rep spoke to their class to promote interest in the challenges. At the end of the month, Miss Davis (Eco Lead) counted up all of the numbers and submitted them as part of the inititative.