Date posted: 14/10/2024Our Eco Conscience
There is a strong environmental conscience at Kingshott; the children love all things ECO, teachers regularly include environmental issues in their teaching and we do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint or engage in carbon off-setting.
The environment really does matter at Kingshott - we are committed to developing and maintaining an environmentally friendly teaching and learning environment. We do this in a variety of ways, all led by our Eco Committee - a group of committed pupils who meet fortnightly. All that we do is underpinned by our Eco Pledge - which was compiled together with our pupils to help us protect our school environment and the wider local environment, and reduce our carbon footprint.
The Kingshott Eco Garden is at the heart of the School. The different parts of the Nature Garden were created based on the ideas from the ECO Committee Class Representatives, and much of the work was undertaken by the children, along with some fantastic staff, parent and community volunteers.
Pupils now use and enjoy the Eco Garden - daily during their breaks if they would like some quiet time with nature, and weekly as part of their outdoor sessions. Classes take it in turns to take part in a range of different activities which are all dependent upon the season and the age group. For example, in the spring and summer they will be busy planting, weeding and harvesting. During autumn and winter, the children learn about leaving some plants for winter bird food, and preparing the area for the growing season ahead. The children really respond to having responsibility and ownership for keeping the Area in good order and always thoroughly enjoy their outdoor sessions. We are also delighted that some of our environmental efforts have already been recognised, notably when Kingshott was awarded the Gold Green Tree School Award from the Woodland Trust in 2019, and the Eco Schools Green Flag Award, which we successfully achieved with Merit in July 2023.
Our Eco Pledge
As a school with the highest values and aspirations, we are committed to developing and maintaining an environmentally friendly teaching and learning environment.
These ideas have been put together by our children, to help us protect our school environment and the wider local environment, and reduce our carbon footprint.
1. Give the car a rest – whenever possible we encourage you to walk, cycle or use public transport.
2. Eat local, buy local and see local – wherever possible our kitchen staff source locally produced food and supplies.
3. Conserve energy – we try to conserve energy, will you help us?
4. Be Water Wise – we use water wisely and don’t leave taps running.
5. Reduce/Reuse/Recycle – whether it be classroom consumables like paper or food, we try to reduce what we use. Where possible resources are reused and we try hard to recycle wisely and thoroughly.
6. Respect nature – we try to look after our local environment and wildlife by not no littering, using the recycling facilities and encouraging local habitats, large and small.
Kingshott ECO Committee
Our ECO Committee is a popular and important group at Kingshott. The Committee is made up from a range of pupils from across the school, all of whom actively choose to take part. The Committee regularly meet to discuss issues and ways to improve the school’s environmental profile, attitude and general performance.
Eco Awards
Kingshott Eco Committee are currently working towards achieving our Eco Schools Green Flag Award, which we’re hoping to get at the end of the summer. The pupils three areas of interest for this are Marine, Litter and the School environment. Current activities include:
- Penguin Watch - pupils are taking part in a weekly penguin watch club! This helps actual scientists monitor the environmental impact of climate change by studying bird populations . After half term we'll be having a weekly penguin watch club!
- Pupils holding a litter picking competition to get as many of our youngest pupils involved and engaged.
Kingshott spent many years working towards the Woodland Trust Green Tree Schools Award . This meant becoming involved in tree planting events at Woodland Trust sites, planting tree packs of our own at Kingshott and developing our own tree nursery. It also involved developing an understanding among children of the value and significance of trees to them and the planet, and the importance of preserving what we have and planting more. Finally, it required the children to actively investigate how to reduce our Carbon Footprint and associated CO2 emissions, including the development of better recycling systems within the school.
In November 2019 the school was awarded the GOLD Award for its efforts!
Environmental Projects
Recycling
We have made sure that every classroom has access to paper recycling bins.
We have built a compost heap from recycled pallets and pupils take part in a composting programme.
A recent innovation has been the recycling programme for classroom pens, hi-lighters and the like. Collection boxes are placed around the school and we are delivering, what would otherwise go to landfill, to a central collection point at a church in Hitchin, who get money for our waste.
Bird Feeders
We want to give nature a home at Kingshott and our bird feeders are one way to achieve this…
Members of the ECO Committee and other interested souls take on the responsibility of providing birds with clean water and a good supply of food.
Trees
We recognise that trees are vital! They provide habitats, improve air quality, deaden noise pollution and make the place look better!
In conjunction with the Woodland Trust we planted 100 saplings in March 2019 and will plant another 100 in March 2020. We have planted a staggering 2250 or so trees since 2010!
Pupils, parents and staff all take part in regular tree planting sessions. Trees are grown by one of our members of staff, and from little acorns, great trees will grow!
Nature Garden
The aspiration was to create a Nature Area for the children to enjoy and Teachers to use for teaching purposes. It was developed in stages with the financial and physical support of the Kingshott Association. The different parts of the Nature Garden were based on the ideas from the ECO Committee Class Representatives,
