Sustainability

How a school built an eco-friendly classroom

Lanlivery Primary School in Cornwall raised their own funds and commissioned and built an eco-friendly extension for their reception area and more classroom space for Key Stage 1 pupils. The school's new facility uses state-of-the-art sustainable materials and includes outdoor decking for playtime. Because the design relied on timber, the new building cost a fraction of what the school would have paid for a conventional extension. Lanlivery's headteacher and their chair of governors took a calculated risk, worked extremely hard and got the whole community to help out. Now they are the proud owners of a building that won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors 2004 award for sustainability.

Building Sights

Recycling resources at Westborough Primary School

The Cardboard Building, at Westborough Primary School in Westcliff, took four years to build and is Europe's first building made from exclusively recycled cardboard materials. The walls, roof and supporting beams are all made from recycled cardboard which was developed from materials the school had collected. All the furniture within the building is made from old materials, which have either been recycled or re-used. Even the garden has been designed from sustainable resources: old chimney pots, railway sleepers and cockle shells from the nearby beach. This programme takes a look inside Westborough School and the revolutionary design of the Cardboard Building, and follows the continuing sustainable development work in the construction of the playground. The experience shows how the development of an acclaimed work of architecture has been used as a teaching aid to support the children?s learning, and how it inspires the pupils to follow careers in design and architecture.

Cardboard School Room

Find out how two schools are working hard to help the environment

Going Green follows two schools where, through dedication and hard work, staff and pupils are finding ways to help the environment. Both schools demonstrate their own unique approaches in "going green". Kingsmead Primary School in Cheshire has been purpose built to be as sustainable as possible. They have adopted an environmental approach that has changed the whole school's ethos. At Dorothy Stringer High School in East Sussex, pupils and staff converted an un-used outbuilding into an "eco-centre" from which, a number of environmental projects are run.

Going Green

Every week is green week, at St John's Catholic Primary

St John's Catholic Primary, Rotherhithe, embraces environmental issues across the curriculum. In the London Docklands area of Rotherhithe, aeroplanes fly overhead every 30 seconds, providing pupils with a basis for understanding what this means for the environment. Two years ago, an environmental week was greeted with such enthusiasm, that every week is now "green week". Each year group is allocated a theme to study, such as conservation or the three Rs; recycle, reuse and reduce. Looking after the planet is also made fun, by giving the children the opportunity to grow their own produce and take part in fashion parades, wearing clothing made from recycled materials.

Green in the City

How one primary school proves its commitment to green issues

St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary demonstrates its innovative measures in looking after the environment. The school embeds the environment and sustainability into its curriculum, by introducing "eco-doorways" or themes for each year, such as "waster, water and energy". The school's green policies are supported by a pupil eco-group and a governor with specific responsibility for sustainability. The learning culminates in green summits, where pupils share their knowledge and views, as well as creating a musical on saving the rainforest. The school is insulated with recycled material and pupils and teachers tend vegetables patches all in a bid to help save the planet.

Green Throughout the Year

How a barren, concrete play area was transformed

Through the Flourish project, early years lessons at Haseltine Primary School in Lewisham can now offer so much more. What was once a barren, concrete play area has been transformed into a living, breathing space. In this programme Helen Bromley, an early years adviser works alongside landscape gardener James Gartside to create an outdoor classroom for children who have little or no access to green areas. This stimulating environment has been designed to encourage learning allowing all sorts of activities, exploratory exercises and messy play. The kids get to plant their own potatoes, grow aromatic lavender and play with dinosaurs in the prehistoric garden, storytelling becomes an adventure as they re-enact the tale in the sunken fishing boat.

Keep the Aspirations Flying

Pupils and students make their community more energy aware

Two schools and a college from Lowestoft implement energy saving techniques into their learning environments. Poplars Primary School have benefited from a visit from the Green Energy Machine and now have a team of energy monitors, and Denes High School focuses on energy-saving workshops to make others aware of the importance of energy saving activities. Students from Lowestoft College look into the use of biofuel in cars and enter a competition to gain funding for to make their college more energy compliant. The determined pupils relay their messages to one another in alternative ways, all hoping to make their environment more energy efficient.

Lowestoft Energy Challenge

Primary pupils visit an organic farm to study food and farming

A Year 5/6 class from Fordcombe CE Primary School visits an organic farm and study centre for a day, learning about food and farming. Commonwork, in the heart of the picturesque Weald of Kent, boasts over 500 acres of land and an organic herd of 280 dairy cows. The class visits in order to find out more about organic principles of farming, and its relationship to healthy eating. The pupils are taken on a tour of the dairy unit, as well as the small organic vegetable garden. They are encouraged to think more about their local environment, particularly with regard to recycling. Over the course of the day they prepare and bake their own naan bread. In a literacy lesson back at school they apply themselves to writing the recipe.

Organic Farm

Pupils investigate sustainable transport in a special project

Soho Parish School tackles a whole school project on sustainable transport, taking two weeks off timetable in order to investigate the subject. Using a scheme of work written by consultant Helen Savva and adapted by teachers at the school, the project has been planned carefully and involves every class. Year 2 investigate what's needed to construct a go-kart and Year 3 have a visit from the penny farthing man who talks about the history of the bicycle and treats some of them to a ride. Meanwhile, Year 6 compile Powerpoint presentations which show sustainable transport solutions for the 2012 Olympic Games and Year 5 research sustainable transport throughout the world. Parents are invited in to see the children's work and watch their presentations. Headteacher Rachel Earnshaw comments on the project's effectiveness and the challenges faced throughout.

Primary Sustainability - Every Journey Matters

Raising salmon from eggs to adults

The broadcast version of this programme is subtitled. This episode of Inspirations is the story of how a group of primary school pupils raised salmon from eggs to young adults and then released them into their local river. The pupils, from Tonyrefail Primary School in south Wales, set up a hatchery in their boiler room with the help of Environment Agency Wales and cared for the eggs. When the eggs hatched the children nicknamed the tiny fish "black-eyed peas". After three weeks the hatchery was too small so the fish were taken to the agency's hatchery and raised further. Then, three months later, the pupils visit the agency and are given a tour, and they are able to pick up their salmon fry to return them to the wild. On releasing these fish into the water, it is clear the whole experience has had a strong impact on the pupils. For follow-up work they make a wall display and teach other pupils what they have learnt themselves. For more information on this programme see the resources and support materials page. The resources and support materials page also features a full subtitle document.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Whole school

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