Eco Schools in the UK & Malawi

Litter & Waste

The shared curriculum is centred around the principle of Eco Schools, England. The initial objectives are to create an eco-committee, do an environmental review, create an action plan, write an eco-code and then share this information between the schools in the UK and Malawi.

Both schools will be required initially to complete the environmental review and action plan and share the minutes of their meetings and action plan implementation. This will form the basis of the dialogue around the joint curriculum work moving forward.

Please find below a great case study on subject of 'Litter and Waste' from

Hunton School CE Primary school in Maidstone.

Eco School Case Study - April 2012

Blank Eco Schools Case Story Form
 

 
 

The Eco-Committe

The Eco-Committee is the action team and the driving force behind the Eco-Schools work.

It will include:

  • Pupils chosen or elected to represent different year groups and the whole school

  • A member of staff (the Eco-Coordinator) to support but not lead the committee

  • The Eco-Committee should also include the following where possible:

  • Headteacher or a member of the senior management team

  • School bursar

  • Other teacher(s)

  • Village committee representative(s)

  • Parent(s)

  • Non-teaching staff member(s)

  • Member of the local community

The role of the Eco-Committee

The Eco-Committee is tasked to:

  • Ensure that the whole school is aware of the Eco-Schools programme

  • Take the lead in carrying out the Environmental Review

  • Ensure that everyone in the school community is represented in the decision-making process (as far as possible)

  • Provide a link between pupils, teachers, senior management team, governors and the whole school community

  • Take the lead in delivering the Eco-Schools Action Plan

  • Keep minutes of meetings and action points

Once the Eco-Committee has been formed, they will conduct the Environmental Review of the school. Conducting this review enables the Eco-Committee to investigate where the school is doing well and what areas might need to be worked on. This in turn will help guide the Action Plan.
 

Environmental Review within school

An Environmental Review (or audit) will give a realistic picture of the school’s current environmental performance. It will tell you what is going well and what needs to be worked upon. Schools in UK and Malawi will compare their review findings and suggest improvements.

The Environmental Review informs the Action Plan, helping the school to decide what change is necessary and how urgently the changes are required. This activity will be completed at the outset and at least once every school year. Follow-up reviews will be undertaken to see the progress the school has made.

The Environmental Review will be carried out by the Eco-committee.

It will cover: litter; waste reduction and recycling; energy; biodiversity; pupil activities; healthy living; and global perspectives.

An adapted Environmental Review template is attached.

Starfish Environmental Review

The Environmental Review will include questions like:
 

Is the school litter free? Graded evaluation.

Does the school recycle waste, paper, plastics, etc?

Do school grounds include areas of wildlife habitat other than those offered by grass on school fields?

Are environmental issues discussed in lessons or in assemblies, etc?

What recommendations for action?
 

Out of the Environmental Review an Action Plan will be created.

The Action Plan is core to the work as an Eco-School and will be developed using the results of the Environmental Review The Action Plan will be shared with the whole school community.

The Action Plan is intended to be a working document and will therefore be reviewed, revised and amended regularly.
 

Action Plan

The Action Plan is core to the work as an Eco-School and will be developed using the results of the Environmental Review The Action Plan will be shared with the whole school community.

The Action Plan is intended to be a working document and will therefore be reviewed, revised and amended regularly.

A template of a completed Action Plan is attached:

Starfish Action Plan

Key features of developing the action plan will be:

  1. Look at the results of your Environmental Review.

  2. Decide what action will be taken to improve these issues.

  3. Decide what the measure of success will be. Make sure the action taken is something that can be measured.

  4. Decide timescales for each action.

  5. Assign people to be responsible for each action. This will be pupils, staff or anyone else within the school community.

  6. Complete the Action Plan. Make sure that the whole school is involved in delivering the actions and that the headteacher supports the Action Plan.

If the Environmental Review has suggested a large number of issues to address, prioritise them, and divide the targets into short, medium and long term. It’s much better to go forward in small steps and celebrate success frequently.

Find out how to get the rest of the school and local community on board and involved with your Eco-Schools activities.

It is key to make sure the Eco-Committee considers how to measure and evaluate the projects and activities within the Action Plan. That way the school can not only monitor its progression through the Eco-Schools programme, but can celebrate and shout about its achievements and successes too.