Even though it is common knowledge amongst most eco-crowds that a large area of domestic and industrial Britain is to be made sustainable by 2020, a lot of people won’t have found out that the Government also plans to make every school a ‘sustainable school’ by the very same year.
In 2006 the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) launched their Sustainable Schools Framework after the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP revealed the ‘greener’ blueprints for British schools to adopt and enhance learning about sustainable development issues and put sustainable practices into everyday school life.
Four years later, and now only a decade away from an increasingly significant year, has there been much of an improvement? Well, yes, actually.
And good for us! Hundreds of schools nationwide have risen to the challenge by not only becoming ecologically aware, but also training to be that bit more eco-practical. Once more, to keep things running smoothly, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has created an international award programme that helps ‘teach’ schools on a variety of topics they might like to add to this year’s curriculum.
Quite conveniently named, Eco-Schools is the FEE’s brainchild that has set out a practical framework to aid school learning and embed a collection of eco-principles into the centre of school activity.
Only just fewer than 50 countries located around the globe take part in the Eco-Schools programme – from the UK to France, from Morocco to South Africa – there is an international network of 40,000 schools, linking teachers and students alike.
Administered by Keep Britain Tidy, the Eco-Schools programme is free to join and is a great way to manage and maintain the progress of your school, whether it is a children’s centre, nursery, primary school, secondary school or a school with special status.
As soon as your school is registered you’ll help follow a simple seven-step process which helps both children and adults to address a range of environmental issues. Recycling, waste, healthy living and biodiversity are to name but a few. Eco-Schools say:
Children are the driving force behind Eco-Schools – they lead the eco-committee and help carry out an audit to assess the environmental performance of their school. Through consultation with the rest of the school and the wider community it is the pupils that decide which environmental themes they want to address and how they are going to do it. Measuring and monitoring is an integral part of the Eco-Schools programme, providing schools with all the evidence they need to really shout about their environmental success.
Schools work towards gaining one of three awards – Bronze, Silver and the prestigious Green Flag award, which symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity. Bronze and Silver are both self accredited through this website and Green Flag is externally assessed by Keep Britain Tidy.
The Eco-Schools programme is a proven way to save money (by making small changes to the environmental management of a school, financial savings can be considerable), gain valuable recognition and publicity (the programme supports schools to ‘do good’ wherever possible, and this can be recognised locally, regionally, nationally and, who knows, maybe even internationally), build strong partnerships with local communities (young and old will be encouraged to engage with local decision making), and improve the all-round focus of your school.
Check out the Eco-Schools website for further information about how to join, Today!
