Warden Hill Primary School Cheltenham

Eco Council

Eco Warriors Litter Pick

This term, the Eco Warriors were worried about the amount of litter in their local park, next door to Co-op. We learnt about the reasons why litter is a problem:

  • Harmful to wildlife
  • Plastic contains toxins, which can pollute waterways and oceans
  • Litter can hurt humans

We decided to make posters to tell other park users to stop dropping litter and put it in the bins instead. On Tuesday, we went to the park and met Councillor Graham Beale and Councillor Tony Oliver and put up our posters. We also did a litter pick in the park and were pleased that even though there was some litter to collect, there was less than the last time we visited.
The councillors told us that they have organised a community litter pick at Salisbury Avenue Play Area 11am-12.30pm on the last Sunday of every month., which we are hoping to join.
This summer we want everyone to remember to take their litter home or put it in a bin.

Eco Schools Flag

On Wednesday 13 July all Eco Warriors gathered together to raise our new Eco Schools flag.

The eco leaders, Mrs Catchpole and Mrs Taylor helped us to raise the eco flag to show that our school is eco friendly.

We have worked hard this year to earn our flag and we felt extremely ecstatic and proud.

The Wombles of Warden Hill

Last year’s Eco Warriors supported the Warden Hill Wombles scheme, initiated by one of now ex pupils Molly, to encourage our community to get involved with picking up litter during the holidays and weekends. We would like to encourage our community once again to pick up litter and become a Warden Hill Womble!

The Wombles Official
Keep Britain Tidy

Bird Watching

This week our Junior Eco Warriors took part in the RSPB’s Big School Birdwatch. The children spent their lunchtime identifying and counting the number of common bird species they saw, using an identification sheet to help them.  It was wonderful to see that our school site provides a habitat for such a range of birds from Goldfinches to Black-headed Gulls. The data our Eco Warriors collected has been uploaded to the RSPB, who will use it along with data from other schools in the country to see how birds are faring in school grounds right around the UK.

Fruit Waste Recycle Bin

At our eco meetings last term, we discussed recycling and how it is important to recycle our food waste otherwise it can contribute to green-house gases, which is not good for our environment. Therefore, a new fruit waste recycle bin, which you may have seen, has been purchased and is being kept under the shelter by the Infant hall. The bin is just for fruit waste only so that children can put their banana skins, apple cores and orange peels and other fruit waste in the bin at break-time so it can then be collected and recycled!

Litter Pick

On Friday 15th October, the Eco Warriors, dressed in their Hi Vis jackets and armed with gloves and litter pickers, set out to Salisbury Avenue Playground to do a litter pick.  The litter pick was inspired by a Warden pupil Ella Head who recently took it upon herself to do a litter pick in her local area.

When the Eco Warriors arrived at the park gates, they were greeted by Councillor Tony Oliver who helped to coordinate the litter pick, together with Councillor Iain Dobie, Mrs Flooks and Karen Watson, who manages the UBICO waste collection contract for CBC.

The children were fantastic during the litter pick and represented Warden Hill brilliantly, helping each other to sensibly collect and bag up the unwanted wrappers and rubbish.

The litter pick was an important activity which continues to raise the awareness within our school and local community of the damage that litter is doing to our environment.

Well done Eco Warriors – a great job

Eco Warriors: The Everyday Plastic Survey

Eco Warriors: The Everyday Plastic Survey

As part of Cheltenham Science Festival, the Junior Eco Warriors took part in a unique national experiment – The Everyday Plastic Survey – to find out how much plastic they throw away and where it goes.
The children collected their plastic for a week, and analysed and recorded what they used. They then entered their data into the Everyday Plastic website to reveal their personal plastic footprint. The plastic footprint is a way of helping everyone to become aware of what we use and establishing a personal connection to the global plastic problem. The project is specifically designed not to preach, point fingers nor make us feel bad. Instead, it highlighted just how hard it is to avoid single-use plastic and suggests some small changes that make a massive impact.
The collective information on plastic used by the hundreds of households taking part will be revealed in a video as part of Cheltenham Science Festival, and will be free for everyone to watch until September. The data collected will be presented to businesses and the government to push for the change needed to help us reduce the amount of waste created.
More information can be found on www.everydayplasticsurvey.org

Eco Warriors: Crisp Packet Recycling

Eco Warriors: Crisp Packet Recycling

This term, the Eco Warriors have started a crisp packet recycling scheme.

They have created posters and PowerPoints to encourage everyone at Warden Hill to recycle their crisp packets.

Designated bins for crisp packets have been placed in each of the halls. Crisp packets can be sent in from home but please ensure that they are empty and not folded into triangles. The packets are then taken to a local collection point where Terracycle collect them and turn them into plastic pellets. These pellets are used by manufacturing companies to produce end-products, completing the journey of recycling. These end products may include outdoor furniture and decking, plastic shipping pallets, watering cans, storage containers and bins, tubes for construction applications, flooring tiles, playground surface covers and athletic fields.

Further information https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades/crisppacket

Eco Warriors: Seeds of Hope

Morrisons Seeds of Hope campaign
and veggie plot planting

Morrisons kindly donated sunflower seeds to the school as part of their Seeds of Hope campaign.

The Eco Warriors planted the seeds and looked after them in their classrooms, until they were big enough to plant out in our veggie plot. We are looking forward to seeing their flowers, which will bring a smile to everyone’s faces as well as attracting pollinators such as bees to our veggie plot.

The Eco Warriors have also used their green fingers to plant tomatoes, sweetcorn, french beans, courgettes, butternut squash, radishes and a giant pumpkin. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a bumper harvest this year!