Green Flag Award
Friday, 16 October 2009 10:53
MINEHEAD MIDDLE SCHOOL PROVES TOP OF ITS CLASS The future is not just bright for Minehead Middle School, it’s green!
Environmentally friendly children and staff from the school shot to the top of the award stakes by securing their first coveted Eco-Schools Green Flag award last week.
Managed in England by ENCAMS (who also run the Keep Britain Tidy campaign) Eco-Schools asks children to set up a committee which has representatives of all members of the school community. They then look at problems from how much rubbish they throw away to how much electricity they waste and create an action plan to sort them out.
Headteacher, Paul Rushforth, said: “Obtaining the Green Flag award is something that the whole school community can be proud of and has worked very hard towards. All our children will be able to take away a lot of satisfaction in the knowledge that their actions have not only significantly altered their local environment but also had a positive financial effect.”
Following the Eco Code that pupils helped draw up, the children have been working hard to transform the school’s daily routine to benefit their environment, from small changes like making sure lights and computers are turned off after use to ensuring that paper, cans and waste is recycled and composted. Pupils have also been growing their own fruit and vegetables which is used by the kitchen and have helped to create new garden areas around the school for wildlife.
Michelle James, a teacher at the school who has led the eco drive for the past few years said: “I would like to congratulate everyone and thank the Environment and Eco Committees, past and present, for all their efforts in achieving this accolade. And also thank Mr Horrobin and his gardening group for all their hard work on the allotment. The journey has been very rewarding and worthwhile. Working towards our Green Flag has given all our pupils a real sense of responsibility and pride. We have been involved in a variety of activities, from searching for rare butterflies with the National Park’s Dave Gurnett, to taking part in the nationwide beach survey for the Marine Conservation Society. Amongst our success at school, we have doubled the amount of paper waste that is recycled and set up a composting system that benefits the allotment and our kitchen, resulting in cutting down our food miles. The challenge is to maintain what we have achieved so far and look towards ways of improving even further. We hope the children will continue with their ‘green’ behaviour in the wider community.”
