January Newsletter!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all amazing Eco-Coordinators from the Eco-Schools Team, we hope you managed to have a relaxing break and are ready to empower young people to tackle environmental issues in 2022! In 2021, the Eco-Schools team were blown away by your efforts and willingness to go above and beyond to protect our planet for future generations, even during the most difficult circumstances. We are truly privileged to work with you and be inspired by you daily!
Hopefully by now you have managed to login and check out our new school portal and application process. It was specifically designed to be completed throughout the academic year as you progress through the Eco-Schools Seven Steps – keeping a record of your Eco-Schools work, highlighting the positive impacts of young people and saving you valuable time during the summer months! If you have been completing the application as you go, by our reckoning you should now have attained around 50 of the 100 points needed to achieve an Eco-Schools Green Flag – if this is you congratulations, you are halfway there! If this isn’t you, don’t panic, there is still plenty of time left to login and begin your application. Click the link below, have a look around and answer some questions – we promise it doesn’t take long, is not intimidating and does help you realise how great a job you are already doing!
Top Action Plan Topics
Thank you to everyone who has been busy updating their Eco-Schools Green Flag Application throughout the academic year, doing this allows the Eco-Schools Team to demonstrate the phenomenal positive impact young people can have on our planet! By now, most schools have decided on their Action Plan (if you haven’t yet, don’t worry – if you get it done ASAP there is definitely still time to apply for an Eco-Schools Green Flag this year) and we can confirm that the three most popular Eco-Schools topics are, drum roll please…
- Waste
- Litter
- Biodiversity
Great Big School Clean 2022 – Save the Date!
Eco-Schools and Keep Britain Tidy are pleased to announce that our seventh annual #GBSchoolClean and #GBSpringClean will take place from 25th March to 10th April 2022! Keep your eyes peeled on the Keep Britain Tidy and Eco-Schools websites and social media channels for further announcements – we have so many exciting events and resources planned this year to complete in and out of school!
A Premier League Sized Eco-Schools Donation
Leeds and England striker Patrick Bamford was so inspired by his visit to Leeds-based Eco-School Park View Primary Academy during December, he has decided to donate an amazing £10,000 to the Eco-Schools programme! Having raised £28,797, through raffling his priceless, limited edition, centenary and promotion winning Leeds United Shirt, Patrick chose to donate the proceeds to three charities close to his heart – the Leeds United Foundation, Andy’s Man Club and ECO-SCHOOLS! A massive thank you to Patrick from Eco-Schools!
The Regenerators Green Planet Live Lesson
The Regenerators, is an environmental initiative from BBC Bitesize, which provides lessons and resources aimed at inspiring young people to live a greener life. To celebrate the launch of landmark series The Green Planet, The Regenerators are inviting you to join a Green Planet Live lesson on Wednesday 12th January at 11am. The Regenerators will also be hosting a live discussion for educators titled How do we teach children about climate change? On Tuesday 25th January at 8pm. Finally they have also launched a new What is the problem with plastic? Assembly kit for schools to initiate discussion on plastic-related issues. Click the links to get involved!
Eco-Schools Curriculum Link Considerations
As Spring Term begins, many Eco-Coordinators will be considering how to gather Step 4: Curriculum Links evidence for their Eco-Schools Green Flag application later in the academic year. To achieve an Eco-Schools Green Flag environmental themes must have been covered in your curriculum at least three times and the evidence required on the application is a simple description of each link – this description might be of an individual lesson, a series of lessons or even a longer-term project, it is entirely up to you! The good news is, if your school follows the National Curriculum and/or teaches geography you will easily be able to find three examples! However, like with everything Eco-Schools, many Eco-Coordinators choose to go above and beyond – if this is something you would like to do, why not consider hosting an Eco-Day or week of learning, during which all lessons are centred on environmentalism in general or a specific environmental theme covered in your Step 3: Action Plan (your day/week could even be part of your Action Plan)? Whilst this requires organisation, it is a fantastic way of making environmental education celebratory and involving your whole school!
Again Happy New Year – you’re awesome!
