Eco Schools Award

Great Marlow School is close to being awarded the Eco School Bronze award: the application is due to be submitted in September.

To become an Eco School requires a pupil and staff committee to raise awareness of green issues by encouraging the school community to take an interest and participate in actions that save the environment. An example is ‘Switch Off Fortnight’ where classroom lights are turned off when the room is empty, to save energy.

Eco Schools is not so much another ‘badge or certificate’ project but the proof that a school community is aware of the impact it has on resources through its eco-friendly lifestyle.

There are nine main focus areas: energy, litter, waste/recycling, water, transport, healthy living, biodiversity, school grounds and global citizenship. Great Marlow School has already made progress on all of these areas and has an action plan to guide GMS forward –led by the Eco-Schools committee.

Great Marlow pupils already consider how actions taken within the school affect people and the environment locally and globally. Issues are explored in school assemblies, like Fair Trade, World Earth Day, as well as Switch off Fortnight mentioned above. All these enable pupils to have a more global view of life. Lessons, too, explore environmental issues most particularly in food technology, citizenship and integrated learning.

Pupils in the Sapphire pathway visit RHS Wisley at the end of Year 7 for a day of workshops and exploration, to develop a link between mathematics, science and gardening. From September 2014, the canteen is implementing a more eco-friendly approach through green procurement, thereby ensuring that their wrappings and produce have a minimal impact on the environment.

Around the school the recycling of paper, card and printer cartridges has long been established and plans to recycle plastics and glass is being researched.

Various areas around the school have been developed to encourage wildlife and also create more outdoor spaces to work, study and relax. The new pond and wildlife area is currently under construction and once it has had time to naturalise will be a new place to study.

At a recent Eco schools meeting a number of issues and ideas were raised including one from students in the 6^th Form. They discussed plans to enhance the transitional process of the new Year 7 intake through Eco school focussed activities in the school.

Once GMS have been awarded the Bronze award there are plans to take the steps needed for earn the Silver award and the Green Flag award: the Gold award is in the future but small steps are required to ensure that the school community work towards a greener more sustainable school with a good daily working practice.

If you would like to know more about the Eco Schools Scheme please go to: www.eco-schools.org.uk or www.jointhepod.org which has close links to the Eco schools scheme.

The Eco School committee