BRIGHT young pupils of a primary school in Orford steer a project to make the school more environmentally friendly and receive a prestigious eco award.

A committee consisting of five children from St Ann’s CE primary school helped to run an environmental audit, focusing on three ways all the students could help the environment and in light of their efforts, the school was awarded the Eco Green Flag Award this July.

The school focused on three key improvements throughout the audit, which was completed back in September 2021, and these included improving the quality of the local grounds, supporting wildlife and saving energy.

Sports and activities coordinator, Stephen Cartledge said: “For part of our audit we found that we could do more to support animal causes. We looked at a local level and found that we could adopt an animal at Walton Hall Zoo.

“This meant that the children could see first-hand the animals they were supporting. We had an animal day in school where the children could bring £1 and come dressed as an animal or wear an item of clothing with an animal on. It was so successful; we raised enough money for all 8 classes to sponsor an animal.”

The Eco Committee, which was made up of year five pupils, along with the help of the staff, conducted litter picks and had light monitors in the school who tried to save energy each day by turning out lights that weren't needed on.

“Our Eco committee ensured that these targets were met and also informed other children around school of their responsibilities to keep our school a more environmentally friendly place,” Stephen continued, “The committee had to be set up in order to achieve the award as it was vital that children were the leaders in taking things forward.”

The Eco Schools Green Flag award has been running since 1994 and provides schools with a seven-step guide in how to make their learning environment more eco-friendly, while encouraging pupils to do the same.

And once three or more of the eco steps have been implemented in the school, they are then presented with the green flag award.

Stephen explained how the initial incentive to win the award came after the Lathom Avenue primary school began working hard to develop their ‘woodland area’, partnering with Cheshire Wildlife Trust to even bring more wildflowers into the school.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust have been able to support the development of St. Ann’s school grounds thanks to funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Stephen said: “We thought we needed to do more things within the building to try to reduce wastage and fuel costs, so the award ticked these boxes nicely.

“The students were engaged in the whole project, and we will need to continue this next year to maintain our award. A new committee is about to be selected to ensure that this happens.”