At Ovingham C of E First School, we aim to be the best Eco School we can be and to reduce our impact on the environment. Our children are very proud to have received their SIXTH Green Flag Award from Eco Schools for their continued hard work in helping to protect our planet. This award recognises their efforts to try and integrate environmentally friendly choices into everything the school does. The school is lead by a team of Eco-councillors, who are elected from each class at the beginning of the academic year. They make decisions about which projects to focus on and raise awareness of environmental issues throughout the school. They have strong links with the community, particularly in recycling and also working with the Ovingham Community Orchard.
In order to achieve their sixth award, the children had to demonstrate that environmental practices are embedded within the school culture and sustained throughout the year. The most recent project that the team have been working on is to create an outdoor classroom/forest school area with habitats and planting to improve the biodiversity of the school grounds. .
Our main aims are:
- To recycle waste paper, batteries, ink cartridges, card and crisp packets.
- To save energy by turning off lights, taps and computers when they are not needed and closing windows and doors.
- To encourage people to find alternative transport or walking to school to reduce our carbon footprint.
- To work with others and provide them with information on how they can recycle and be more environmentally friendly.
- Plant flowers and trees; let areas grow wild; hang bird boxes to encourage wildlife to the school grounds.
- Grow and harvest vegetables to use in the kitchen.
- Collect rain water to use on vegetable garden and flowers and plants.
- To have fun learning and teaching things about the environment.
