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Chailey Heritage School is registered with Eco-Schools which is an international award programme that guides schools on their sustainable journey, providing a framework to help embed these principles into the heart of school life. Registered schools follow a simple seven-step process which helps them to address a variety of environmental themes, ranging from litter and waste to healthy living and biodiversity. Schools work towards gaining one of three awards – Bronze, Silver and the prestigious Green Flag award, which symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity. Bronze and Silver are both self accredited through the Eco-Schools website www.eco-schools.org.uk and Green Flag is externally assessed by Keep Britain Tidy. Students in the 16+ Department are the driving force behind Eco-Schools at Chailey Heritage – they lead the eco-committee and help carry out an audit to assess the environmental performance of the school. Through consultation with the rest of the school and the wider community it is the students that decide which environmental themes they want to address and how they are going to do it. Visit the 16+ News and Gallery page to find out more about what the Eco Group are involved in. The following matters have been discussed at recent Eco-School Council meetings: Recycling
o The council can crusher has been installed in the recycling area. Several visitors to the school who have been given a demonstration of the can crusher have been very impressed. Pupils from St Paul's Catholic College commented on how 'cool' it was. They decided to mention it to their Headteacher to see if he would agree to one being made for them to use.
o The council could make more posters to remind people to recycle.
o Council will find out if there is a place on the site that has a facility for recycling glass.
o Sarah D asked the council if they thought a trip to some charity shops might be a good idea, to learn more about recycling. Perhaps the council could ask the rest of the school to bring in articles that they would like taken and this could be done at the same time.
o Some of the group made a box to put in the recycling area to collect Christmas cards for recycling.
o The box for recycling batteries has been very successful.
o Eco Day on 16th June was very successful with a 'Grow your own show' in the morning and a Jumble Sale in the afternoon. The amount raised was over £35 which will be used to buy nets for pond dipping.
Switch off fortnight
o Week commencing Monday 22nd November was “Switch off fortnight”. The council used some of their environmental lessons to visit other parts of the school to remind people to switch off machines and lights if they were not being used. Viewing platform on pond
o Southern Water funded the building of a platform by the school pond so that young people can have access to the pond and work commenced on Monday 15th November. The platform is now in place and the pond was officially opened on 19th May. Representatives from Southern Water and other Contractors who had been involved with the refurbishment attended the ceremony. The Eco-council will now be able to investigate and might be quite surprised how much life there is in the pond. Explanation boards will eventually be placed around the pond to inform visitors of what they might see and what species live in and around the area. o The council would also like to find out what other animals or insects live around the school so will also be investigating this. The group discussed inviting other classes to look out for insects around the area and then reporting back their findings.
At Chailey Heritage School we have achieved the Bronze Award by meeting the following criteria:
Bronze criteria
1. The school identified an Action Team which met on at least two occasions.
2. The Action Team completed a formal/informal Environmental Review.
3. The Action Team produced a basic Action Plan and shared the plan with the rest of the school community.
4. The Action Team identified progress towards achieving elements of the Action Plan.
5. The school indicated that some environmental issues were covered within curriculum work.
6. The school has a prominent, designated notice board, web pages or newsletter which details Eco-Schools activities. We are now working towards the Silver Award and will have to meet the following criteria:
Silver criteria
1. The school must identify an Action Team which has met on at least four occasions. The Action Team includes a parent and/or governor representative.
2. The Action Team to complete a formal Environmental Review and record the results.
3. The Action Team to produce a detailed Action Plan (including timescales and targets) and share the plan with the rest of the school community.
4. The Action Team to demonstrate progress towards achieving at least two elements of the Action Plan.
5. The school to identify progress towards one large-scale project and indicate involvement with two others. ‘Identify progress’ means that the school has an understanding of the project topic and recognises its importance to sustainable development within the school environment and the wider community.
6. The school to have a prominent, designated notice board, web pages or newsletter which details Eco-Schools activities.
7. The school to inform parents and the wider community about the work being undertaken by the school in relation to Eco-Schools.
8. The school to indicate that some environmental issues have been covered within curriculum work in most year groups.
9. The school to agree, adopt and display an ‘Eco-Code’.
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