Our Eco Council is made up of two children from each class in Year 1 and Year 2. These children are elected to the role by their class peers. The children in Eco Council are responsible for raising awareness of environmental issues and to explore ways in which the school and the wider school community can become increasingly environmentally friendly.

Our School Environment

In March, Eco Council wrote letters to the manager of B&Q to ask if the store could donate some plants to the school. They took the letters to B&Q to deliver them. It was the most amazing trip! The manager of B&Q read the letters and came straight down to see the children. He donated all of the plants that the adults and children are holding!

In February, Eco Council prepared the pots and tubs around the school in preparation for planting some new plants for spring. So many of the plants died as a result of the hard winter frost and so the pots are looking really empty. They put in the first few plants and did a really good job! They have responsibility for keeping the pots well watered. The school is looking brighter already! Thank you!

In January, the Eco Council took part in the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch. The children stood calmly and quietly by the Rainbow Garden and kept note of all the different birds that they could see. They then sent the results to the RSPB so that they could work out the number of different birds that are living in close proximity to the school.

Burlington Infant and Nursery School are members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Eco-Council help to attract birds to the school by providing food, water and shelter for them in the Rainbow Garden.

In December, the Eco Council went out to the local park to pick up litter. They worked really hard and collected two bags of rubbish.

In November, our Eco Council have been really busy this term helping to collect litter from the school grounds and feeding the birds. We are so grateful to the children for helping to look after our school. 

In October, Eco Council met to talk about what more they could do to make sure that litter is not being dropped on the floor. They decided to make posters that could be laminated and put around the school. They will be finishing them next week and displaying them around the school site. Well done Eco Council!

In September, Eco Council have been really busy this week helping Mrs Docwra water all the beautiful plants around the school.

Also this month, Eco Council have been helping to keep our school a clean, tidy and safe place for the adults, children and animals that come into the playground.​ They spent some of their lunchtime picking up litter. They were very focused and did a great job!

This March, the Eco Council children have been putting new plants in the planters. These are to attract butterflies and bees now that spring has come. They have one planter per class and it is their responsibility to water it and take care of it. They worked really hard and did a great job! 

The Eco Council are worried that adults are parking their cars outside our school and leaving their engines running. This is called idling engines. Eco Council have been discussing why this is a bad thing: 

1. When the engine is running, gas comes out of the car and it is not good because it contains carbon dioxide.
2. Carbon dioxide is bad for our lungs and health 
3. Idling wastes money because it burns petrol for no reason 
4. When engines are running it is loud and it stops people from hearing other cars coming past.

The Eco Council have organised a competition for children to design a poster telling adults to turn their engines off when their cars have stopped. Children can use the facts above or research their own facts and include pictures too. We have extended the entry date to Friday 4th March, please hand in entries to the school office or your class teacher. The children will vote on the poster they like the most and the winning poster will be enlarged and put up outside the school. 

Switch Off Fortnight

Eco Council presented an assembly on Tuesday introducing Switch Off Fortnight to the children in Year 1 and Year 2. The children shared that burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) produces carbon dioxide, which is bad for the environment. They talked about the need for using renewable energy where possible and how important it is to save energy. To help save energy, we will be taking part in Switch Off Fortnight. The information below has been shared with the children. The Power Point here gives more information.

We will be taking part in Switch Off Fortnight from 14th-27th November 
 
We want everyone to do these things at home and in school to help to save energy. 

1.) Make sure that lights are switched off if they are not needed.

2.) Turn off devices rather than leave them on standby.

3.) Close windows and doors where possible to keep heat in.

Please encourage your family and friends to join in.  Thank you, Eco Council

Plogging

Eco Council regularly go on ‘plogging’ outings into the local environment, with the focus of these trips being on collecting rubbish that has been left in inappropriate places. Once collected, the rubbish is brought back to the school and sorted into the glass, plastic and tin cans before these are sent for recycling. At Burlington we are part of a ‘plogging’ school community. All schools log the number of recyclable objects that they have collected and this information is entered onto a site which collates data relating to the hard work and dedication of the children.

If you would like to know more about ‘plogging’, please visit: 

Plog-olution web page

Other Responsibilities

The Eco Council take on a number of responsibilities through the school year. For example, the school have an annual WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Week. During this week, Eco Council children take assemblies to introduce and then draw the week to an end. Eco Council support the children across the school in identifying endangered animals and then deciding upon one animal that the school will adopt. At Burlington we currently adopt a penguin, a sea turtle and a dolphin. Our most recent adoption was a bumble bee. During the week, each Year 2 class carries out a close study of the challenges that a certain endangered animal faces. Each child writes a report reflecting these challenges and this is then shared with the children through a whole school assembly. This approach ensures that children across the school are aware of the challenges faces the natural world and the steps that can be taken to make positive change.

Eco-Schools Award

There are 3 Eco-Schools award levels – Bronze, Silver and Green Flag. We are very proud to hold the Silver Award. This award focussed on strengthening pupil leadership and whole school involvement.

This academic year we are working towards the Green Flag. We will be completing in-depth work on at least 3 of the Eco-Schools 9 topics, one of which must be energy. We will choose the topics dependent on the results of our Environmental Review that we will be carrying out soon.

If you would like to find out more about Eco-Schools log on to:

Eco-Schools web page