Sustainability Week March/April 2022

Our Sustainability Week has been a fun-packed and educational experience for us all. We have been overwhelmed by our children’s knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and inspired by their attitudes and responses. They have shown us just how committed and conscious they are about making small changes for a brighter future.

Please see below for the week in more detail.   

Facilitated by Thames Water, our KS2 children joined other schools around the UK and industry experts for World Water Day, to explore the topic of ‘Groundwater, making the invisible visible’. Children learnt about the importance of water and where it comes from. They looked at the water cycle and discussed the different steps. Children learnt about what can and cannot go down the toilet and why some things are not allowed. Children took part in a quiz and shared their answers with other schools all over the country. 

Miss Willis delivered an assembly introducing Earth Hour. She explained that on Saturday 26th March, people across the world would be turning off their lights and electrical devices for one hour at 8.30pm, to raise awareness of environmental issues. She shared ideas on how children could take part at home such as telling stories, candlelit activities, watching wildlife on a nature walk and stargazing.

Miss Willis also explained that, during Sustainability Week, the children would be repurposing plastics to make a seat for the outdoor area from Eco Bricks.  Throughout Sustainability Week the children used soft plastics such as packets, carrier bags, lids and straws they had brought in from home to make Eco Bricks. 

Forestdale’s Eco Warriors held an assembly to introduce Sustainability Week to the school. They asked our children to define what they thought it meant to be Sustainable and asked why it was so important. Reducing use of fossil fuels, using water wisely, recycling waste and minimising landfill were just some of the ways our children suggested we could look after our planet. Miss Fennell then shared which Sustainable Goal each class is learning about this term: 

As a school, we have taken the Let’s Go Zero pledge, declaring our aim to become zero carbon by 2030. Find out more here. Children were asked to consider a class pledge on how they could become more environmentally conscious. These pledges have been added to our Pledgehog which is on display in the dining hall. 

Children were also informed that new bins have been added around the school to make recycling easier and more efficient. 

Powerday hosted a remote assembly for our children. They are a waste management and recycling company with sites across London. They provided lots of information on plastics and their impact on the environment. They also explained how they sort and recycle materials, including plastics, to produce clean products for onward use. Our children asked Powerday some very comprehensive and thought-provoking questions such as If microplastics are ingested by sea creatures and we eat those sea creatures, why is plastic not banned? They also delivered a skip to our site for our children, staff and community to use. 

Green Up Your Act brought environmental issues to life through stimulating discussions, engaging presentations, and creative workshops held across two days. The workshops were chosen to match each class’s Sustainable Development Goals and science topics; year R made bug hotels; year 1 made notebooks from recycled maps; year 2 made litter fish; year 3 grew microgreens; year 4 made happy habitat butterfly and bug seed books; and year 5 and 6 studied rainforests. 

On Friday morning, we were due to have an assembly led by Andrew Ashcroft, from Koolskools, on Fairtrade- organic cotton school uniforms. However, it had to be postponed until after Easter. Once rescheduled, he will talk about Fairtrade, how it works and the benefits to the remote cotton growing communities and the planet. He will also show our children a film of his cotton fields in India, how they harvest the cotton and explain how organic cotton is grown. 

Children had to choose from a selection of Junk Modelling Challenges for fun STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics) team building activities. Children had to work together, selecting materials, and solving problems to design, make and test the best model.

Individual Pledge Box-Children made individual pledges to become more responsible citizens. 

Class pledge- Class pledges for Pledgehog. 

Songs- Eco songs sang in class.  

Compost food- Class fruit waste composted each day. 

Earth hour- All classes had ½ a day where they did not generate waste or use electricity.  

Recycling Collection- Children and staff brought in dry and clean junk throughout the week for the STEAM junk modelling activity. 

Eco Bricks- Each class created a minimum of two bottles using recycled plastics. 

1. Recycle Soft plastics

Families can take soft plastic to local Co-op and other supermarkets to recycle:

• Baby, pet food, detergent and cleaning pouches
• Biscuits and chocolate wrapping
• Bread bags
• Bubble wrap and cling film
• Cereal liners
• Cheese, fish and meat wrapping
• Crisp and sweet bags
• Delivery bags
• Frozen food bags
• Multi-pack wrapping
• Plastic carrier bags
• Plastic film lids
• Salad, pasta, and rice bags
• Toilet roll wrapping

2. Textile repair Café 

Croydon ReUse and Croydon Council have partnered to deliver the borough’s first Textile Repair Café at Centrale & Whitgift, which opened on Tuesday 15th March. Croydon ReUse’s café will offer workshops at an affordable price to local residents who want to repair, refashion and recycle old textile items rather than throw them away.

3. Save Water 

•  Use a bowl in the sink when washing fruit, vegetables or dishes. You can then use the waste water to water your plants.
• Turn off the tap when you clean your teeth. A running tap uses up to nine litres of water a minute.
• If possible, take a shower instead of a bath. A five-minute shower uses about 40 litres of water. This is about half the volume of a standard bath.

4. Clothes Recycling

• Add any clothes, textiles and shoes to our ELT recycling bin situated at our Woodpecker Mount gate. Please no duvets, pillows or cushions.