On Wednesday we held our bi annual eco day at school. All the children took part in three workshops run by staff. They had a choice of eight activities. Our activities centered around the Eco Schools ethos of biodiversity, school grounds, global citizenship, litter, healthy living, energy, waste, water and marine life. While we couldn’t cover everything, the children were able to have a taste of how they can make a difference protecting the world in which they live.

Fitness

Healthy living is important to all of us and learning about how our bodies work and what they need to stay healthy gives us a chance to stay fit for life. It can be a lot of fun too! The children played tennis and took part in fitness exercises with Ms Moore as well as talking about what exercise does for their bodies. 

Bamboo Bug Hotels

Looking after our wildlife becomes more important everyday as their habitats decrease. Making a small bug hotel as a home for just a few insects can help them survive and thrive. With Mrs Hallett the children were able to make small bamboo bug hotels to take home to their gardens and attract more insects. 

Eco Art

Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy’s eco art the children were able to have a go at creating their own pictures and designs using only natural materials. Mrs Austin and Mrs Darby ran this workshop and the children worked in pairs or threes and produced some amazing colourful and intricate designs and pictures using what they found in the wildlife area.

Sewing

With thoughts of reusing and reducing waste, learning to sew is an essential skill to mend or even make clothes. The children sewed butterflies with Mrs Rogers and decorated them as they wished.

Cooking

Learning to cook is a vital life skill and learning about healthy food is important to staying well. The children had fun with different fruit and vegetables to create exotic and interesting minibeasts all of which got eaten fairly quickly! Ms Reeves and Mrs Tyler certainly go their creative skills going. 
Eco Cubes

The idea of an eco cube is to draw something different on each side to inspire you to help the world around you. E.g. a dripping tap crossed out to remind you to save water, a plant growing to think about planting seeds for insects or food or a recycling bin as a reminder to recycle what you can. Each day you can roll your eco cube and, depending on what comes up, focus on that sustainable idea for the day.  They were tricky to put together but the children persevered with the help of Mrs Montero and Mrs Johnson.

Shelter building

Shelter is a necessity for all animals and creating our own shelters gave the children a chance to think about how fortunate they are to have homes to live in whilst so many across the world live in refugee camps and makeshift shelters. The children had great fun building shelters from tarpaulins and rope and then creating seating and cooking areas. Ms Braidwood was fed a lot of daisy soup and mud cupcakes!

Clay Work

Working with a natural material like clay brought the children close to the earth and they could design and create their own pots or animals and decorate them with leaves, flowers and grasses.  A sustainable material that can be reused and biodegrades unlike plastic. The designs produced under the guidance of Mrs Jefferies and Mrs Sanders were amazing and the children all created something beautiful from their clay. 

One of the best things about the day though was watching the children working respectfully and cooperatively together, across age groups. It was wonderful to see the older children helping and guiding the younger ones in their activities and showing patience and consideration as they did so.  A truly memorable day.