We are an Eco-School.  This means that we are striving to make our school an environmentally friendly place and children environmentally aware.  We believe that the future of the planet is in our children's hands and we strive to educate them about how they can learn to look after the world.  Here you will find items about what we are trying to do to look after our planet.  Look at the links at the bottom of the page for Eco newsletters.

Article by Sarah Lewis, from the Argus -  Saturday October 21^st 2006

  City's Eco- Schools

Brighton and Hove is the Eco-School capital of the South East. A remarkable 45 of the city's 100 schools are now signed up to the green educational scheme compared to a disappointing four in Eastbourne and Portsmouth and a mere three in Bournemouth.

Launched in Brighton and Hove in 1998, the Eco-School programme helps schools run environmental projects alongside the national curriculum.

A study by Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, has suggested that puils who attend Eco-Schools have improved behaviour and appear more interested in learning.

Stephan Gehrels, and organic gardener who runs eco-clubs at three local schools, says "I think what Ofsted says is definitely true in two respects. Lots of physical activity is going to help children concentrate, relax and bring a better feeling to the class - and then there's the whole element of caring. They feel they're contributing to making the school a better place, which helps them feel good and want to continue doing good things."

Kim Jackson, environmental education officer for Brighton and Hove City Council believes the holistic approach to schooling allows the pupils the opportunity to feel part of the community. She says "The children are out there planting things, looking at bugs under log piles or picking up litter. It gives them a greater sense of ownership and so they care."

As well as being tied in to the national curriculum, Eco-Schools is closely linked with an idea called Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).  ESD is about ensuring a better quality of life for us all now and for future generations and includes teaching pupils about the connections between people locally and globally, the importance of diversity and respect for human rights.

The government has laid down guidelines for schools to all be models of sustainable development by 2010.

And as for how parents feel about the scheme, Kim says: "On the whole they are really supportive. If the children learn something and take it home with them it has a real benefit for the wider community. A bit of pester power can work very well. The idea is to have a knock on effect, roll the green message outwards."

To become an Eco-School a school must register and then set up an Action Team to mastermind and carry out green projects. The team must include pupils form as many year groups as possible to make sure all aspects of the school community are represented.

Recent projects have included pupils turning hteir school grounds into wildlife sanctuaries for mini-beasts and sitting on eco-councils responsible for making decisions for their school?s future.

Ruth Simon-House, the Eco-Schools co-ordinator for Hertford Infant and Nursery School in Hollingdean, has been surprised by the children's commitment to the scheme. "They absolutely love it" she says. "They sit on an eco-council so they are responsible for making some of the choices in their school. It makes them feel important and you can see they are really proud when they come up with new ideas."

The city council's support for schools includes running training sessions for teachers and holding an Eco-Oscars award ceremony to reward their hard work. Ruth says "Brighton and Hove is such a great city, we get loads of help from the council, it's absolutely invaluable. We also wrote letters to Southern Water, they came and did a survey and gave us 200 Save-a-flush bags so we could put one in every toilet in the school and send one home with every pupil.".................................................................................

The next step is an environmental review, which can be designed by students and should cover topics of litter, waste minimization and recycling, energy, biodiversity, water use, healthy living, transport, pupils activities and the global perspective. After this, the school can develop an action plan and an eco-code and then set about putting it all into practice.

Hertford Infants have their eco-code written on a collage made by the pupils - displayed in a busy hallway for all to see. Projects at the school have included cultivating a wildlife area where they now have 9 apple and 2 pears trees. They visit once a week to care for it and to see what creepy crawlies have moved in.

There are three award levels available for participating schools. Bronze and Silver awards can be obtained through self-assessment but the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag is only awarded by a trained assessor. To get a  Green Flag a  school has to have made good progress towards a large-scale project and indicate involvement in two others. Currently only two schools in Brighton and Hove hold this award - Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton and St. Andrews CE Aided  School in Hove. Hertford Infants hopes to get one this year. Ruth says "We're nearly there, there's only a couple of things left for us to do. The big thing is to include it in your day to day curriculum. We won  a wind-powered machine and solar car so we use them in science, and a theatre production about litter visited us."

To find out more about becoming an Eco-School, call 01942 612621 or visit www.eco-schools.org.uk