It is currently the summer holidays, so the Environmental Action Group isn’t doing anything!
We’ll be back in September with even more ambitious plans. Our first plan for the new year is a solar panel project in conjunction with Bath Community Energy. I warned you it would be ambitious!
This week the King Edward’s School Environmental Action Group was mentioned in The Bath Chronicle in an article about the school’s ‘Eco Week’. The article follows:
Pupils at a Bath school have been learning how to be more environmentally friendly during a week of activities.
King Edward’s School has held an eco-week, encouraging pupils to think about their impact on the planet and what they can do to think more about green issues.
The young people have taken part in a swap shop, looked at how they can use less energy and tried to cycle, walk or use public transport to get to school rather than in the car.
A group from the school’s environmental action group also went to the Bath and north east Somerset Youth Climate Summit at the University of Bath to discuss global environmental issues.
Dr Ali Fewell, the eco schools co-ordinator at King Edward’s, said: “By participating in Eco Week 2011, pupils have learnt that simple decisions such as turning off lights and computer monitors, reducing the amount of packaging they use on foods or bringing packed lunches in re-useable containers can all help to reduce wasted energy and resources.
“By learning about these issues at such a young age, pupils are more likely to adopt more environmentally friendly habits for the future and thereby make a difference.”
This week was King Edward’s School’s annual EcoWeek. Over the four days (Friday being ‘Leaver’s Day’, the school only open to year 13 leavers) many events were held over various environmental themes.
Monday was Make-Do and Mend Monday which saw the year 8s in the Environmental Action Group hold a ‘swap shop’ at which unwanted items could be swapped between pupils. Although lack of pre-publicity meant there was a low turn out, the message of reducing waste was still there. Furthermore year 7 art students finished their works made out of recycled materials.
Tuesday was Turn It Off Tuesday where lesson plans were encouraged to exclude energy-intensive Powerpoint presentations and electricity use was minimised. Furthermore we borrowed, courtesy of Transition Bath, a stationary bicycle that generates electricity when pedalled. We set this up outside, attached to some speakers, and let pupils attempt to power them. This was a great educational tool, allowing pupils to better understand what energy use really means.
Wateraid Wednesday saw various events to raise money for the school’s chosen charity of the year, Wateraid. The sixth form held a ‘Quidditch’ tournament, attempting the Muggle version of the wizarding sport from Harry Potter. This gained a large crowd, all eager to buy the cakes sold in aid of Wateraid by two year 8 forms.
Thursday was the school’s annual Travel Day which saw pupils encouraged to come to school by alternative modes, be that by foot, bicycle, public transport or something less conventional. Pupils that travelled by non-motorised forms were offered a free bacon butty by the kitchens and it was a non-uniform day, making travelling that bit more comfortable. Next week we will assess the Travel Day and award a prize for the ‘Most Awesome’ journey.
KES Environmental Action Group with our Eco-Schools ‘Green Flag’ award. This photo is a little old but I have only just received a copy of it.
This week the Environmental Action Group was asked to produce a short video about why sustainability is important in schools. This is what we came up with. It tells about some of our activity as well as about our wider ethos as a group.
Today members of the EAG (Rachel, Camille, Cath, Alex and Tom) gave a presentation on how you can simply change your shopping, eating and banking (i.e. your ‘consumption’) to reduce your carbon footprint in sixth form assembly.
The topics covered included the impact of the clothing industry, options for buying second-hand clothes and options for ‘upcycling’ old clothes, which supermarkets to use and which to avoid, how to eat more sustainably as well as looking at how banks fund massive environmental damage and how to choose a bank that doesn’t.
Practical tips included shopping at Bath’s many charity shops and vintage shops, trying a ‘meat-free Monday’ and switching to a bank with a good ethical rating, such as the Co-operative Bank. Yourethicalmoney.org is a website that rates banks operations in terms of how ethical it is and was used in the assembly.
King Edward’s School is currently operating a trial meat-free Tuesday in its kitchens. So far it has been quite successful, although there have been some objections. A vote will be held in the next few weeks to determine whether it continues or not. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said about having one meat-free day per week: “in terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions [in personal carbon emissions] in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity… Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there.”
Last Thursday, 30th September, saw the first action team meeting of the 2010/11 school year. These are the after school meetings which teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils, parents, senior management, senior management and occasionally our local councillor all convene to discuss the school’s longer term sustainability strategy. The minutes are below.
Minutes
IT
- Since the last assessment, not much had changed. There are more computers on the KES site.
- Assessment stated that a lot of the computers turned on, were turned on unnecessarily
- Switches in the classroom to turn all monitors proposed
- Awareness needed - perhaps with a screensaver saying: ‘Turn this monitor off: Save Energy’ and staff co-ordination
Management of School Statistics:
- Centralised location of storing statistics (i.e. energy and water usage etc.)
- Bought up in 2 respective Green Flag assessments.
- Help with Administration
- Economic Incentive
Catering:
- Meat-free Tuesday assembly needed
-Food Waste Management
- Could we use paper bags instead of plastic for packed lunches? Twice as expensive. Perhaps biodegradable plastic bags?
- Compost bins in Willett Hall - better awareness needed, as is correct labelling of bins - normals bins to be labelled ‘landfill’.
-Tuck Shop - does it need to sell bottled water? Could let pupils use Water Jugs that are used at lunch during break.
Reduction of Energy Use:
- Heating-thermometers and thermostats in classrooms?
- Heating problems in Nethersole and ‘B’ Block
- Building ‘Code of Conduct’
Biodiversity around KES site:
- Competition on designing a ‘breathing space’ for the site - Wild Flower Meadow? Perhaps in the area by Chemistry labs
Plastic Recycling at KES:
- Industrial (Catering, Porters etc.) rather than classroom use
- Problems with contamination
- General Recycling information needed
Community Involvement:
- Junior School
-Recycling bin in every classroom
-Turn the light-switch off
-Recycling bin ‘care’
-Senior School Assembly in the Junior School
-Junior School Environmental Action Group
Travel:
- Travel Plan
- Travel Week - highly successful competition
- Environmental Mufti Day
- Good incentives to take part.
Curriculum Integration:
- PSHE - set of lessons on related sessions, same system as Year 10 at the moment for world poverty
Last week (Monday 28th June - Friday 2nd July) saw King Edward’s holding its annual ‘Travel Week’. During this week all pupils are encouraged to walk, cycle or take public transport to school. The event is organised by the Travel Plan Working Committee, with heavy Environmental Action Group involvement. As well as putting prominent display boards in the main teaching block with information on sustainability, the role of the car in causing climate change and guidance on other ways to get around without it, we also ran an inter-form alternative transport competition.
Every day the mode of transport used to and from school by each pupil was collected by form teachers. At the end of the week this data was collected and collated, and the mean number of miles traveled per person will be calculated - a mile in a car counts as a full mile, each car share mile counts as half its true value, public transport miles count as one quarter of their true value and walked or cycled miles are not counted. This number will be divided by the number of pupils in each form (some forms are larger than others) and the lowest scoring form will be the winner.
Results will be released in the next week and the winning form in each sector (years 7 & 8 and years 9 & 10) will be rewarded with a party pack for an end of term party, including food, soft drinks and a DVD.
The focus of the week was on the Tuesday, marked as ‘Alternative Transport Day’, when a large proportion of the school traveled in by foot, by bike or by bus or train. Some efforts were particularly large - two year 8 pupils came to school ‘three-legged’ and two sixth form pupils ran 16 miles to school from Warminster.
Keep your eyes on the News page for pictures from the week.
Following our inspection this May, King Edward’s School has regained it’s ‘Green Flag’. The Green Flag is a prestigious award recognising sustainability in schools. Once gained, the recipient school is reassessed every two years, 5 times, to ensure not only maintenance of standards but an improvement, before being granted permanent Green Flag status. We remain only the second school in Bath and North East Somerset to have the award.
Soon we will receive a written report of the schools level of sustainability. This will be invaluable in constructing our action plans for next year. Issues raised during the inspection were encouragement of biodiversity and preventing waste of water, so these are sure to be tackled in the next two years. Keep an eye on the site for progress!
This month Bath Cycling Campaign will be hosting a showing of “Beauty and the Bike” at the Little Theatre Cinema, Bath. The film follows a campaign in Darlington to get teenage girls riding bikes again, by making cycling glamorous again.
The showing takes place at 8:30pm on June 22nd and costs just £5. To book tickets give the Little Theatre Cinema a call. Information on the showing is not currently on their websites, but I have been in contact with Bath Cycling Campaign and am assured it is definitely happening and anyone is welcome. I hope to see you there!
