Eco Committee

Ideas for SustFest Schools/Youth Activities

A whole week or a few young people on one activity – it’s up to you how much you do for SustFest Schools Week but we’d love to have you on board each year!

• appreciating and protecting nature
• reduce / reuse / recycle
• climate change and climate justice

Debate and Discuss

• get the students to take the lead on what is important to them – student conferences, debates, strategy meetings and assemblies are all appropriate for older students to run

Grow/Eat Food

• dig over veg beds ready for planting
• plant seeds in newspaper pots
• build bug hotels
• plant a tree
• explore vegan cookery
• learn about sustainable fish

Energy

• monitor lights to see if they are switched off
• mount an anti-idling campaign aimed at parents

Nature

• explore a local park or nature area and find nature on your doorstep
• go on a bug hunt
• make pictures out of sticks and leaves
• leaf-rubbing
• bird-watching

Waste

• have a “waste free lunch” challenge and try to cut food waste for the week
• do a litter pick
• use both sides of paper
• read books on eco-subjects including Duffy the Sea Turtle or Hunter’s Icy Adventure and other books in the Wild Tribe series to learn about plastics and marine life

We went to the Church to visit Margaret today. Unfortunately it was too wet to spot any bees. We checked on the beans that we grew in the Autumn and amended the net , as they had grown so tall. We spotted potatoes, spinach and kale. We are looking forward to our next visit and we hope for better weather.

Alban City School Record of Meetings

Eco Committee

Eco Report 2022-2023

Achievements

Eco assembly: We worked together to plan, create and deliver a whole school assembly

Collected apples with Margaret to donate to the local food bank

Made a hedgehog house

Lots of visits to the church: planting, litter picking, tidying, creating wildlife habitats

School has donated 41 trees

Working towards the Green flag

Tally chart for how we travel to school

Things we need to develop:

All classes to develop their year group planters

Awareness of food waste

Year 2 sent a letter to our local MP Daisy Cooper about their worries around deforestation and Climate Change. Daisy kindly responded to our letter!

Thank you Daisy! It is on display on our Eco board and in the Year 2 shared area.

Here are some useful eco websites for you to explore at home:

https://sustainablestalbans.org/

https://ecolifestyletips.com/

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/green-tips

Take photos of you litter picking and email to school. Look at this website which we have been taking part in at school:

https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/volunteer/litter-heroes

Water saving ideas and activities:

Please share anything you have created and bring it in to show me!

Mrs Boothby

Sky Class

This week Year 2 worked together to send an email to Daisy Cooper about their worries:

Alban City School 

7 Hatfield Road
St Albans
AL1 3RR

Thursday 23^rd March 2023

Dear Daisy Cooper, 

The children in Year 2 have decided they would like to make you aware how concerned they are about the effects of deforestation and global warming. We have been researching the amazing Amazon Rainforest as part of our topic. The children have loved exploring the different animals and plants. They have also looked at the dangers of the rainforest being destroyed!  

Here are their concerns: 

People are cutting down the trees from the rainforests to build homes, planting palm oil plants and using the wood for things like furniture and paper. We wanted to let you know what would happen if this continued. We found out that the number of trees that are cut down every single minute is the size of a football pitch! As humans we will lose oxygen, which is provided by the trees and plants. We need nice, clean air. Important ingredients for medicines are grown in the rainforest.  

Animals are losing their homes and food. They might become endangered and eventually extinct! We will not let this happen! Plants will die and we will lose the precious oxygen. The harmful gases from pollution will spread further.  

The World is getting hotter and hotter. Global warming is making the world poorly. We must take care of it!  

Thank you for taking the time to read our concerns. 

Yours sincerely, 

Crimson class 

Year 2 

Alban City School 

One of our Eco Committee members from Year 6, has written the most inspiring and incredible poem. We had to share it with you all, enjoy!

Nature

Stars up above like embers in the night,

Waterfalls gleaming enchantingly in the light.

Plants swaying elegantly from side to side,

And shells glistening captivatingly at high tide.

100-year old trees,

And naturally beautiful seas.

Are all part of the great outdoors,

That daily makes beauty soar.

So why would anyone burn this down,

And leave the ground all bare and brown.

But this is what us humans seem to do,

Sometimes even thinking of its as a breakthrough.

We don’t seem to care,

About this whole affair.

We’re leading ourselves to extinction,

But there seems to be no distinction,

 When telling ourselves what’s right and wrong.

So, unless we make an instant change,

Hope will suddenly become out of range.

Accordingly, I urge you to do so,

And restore the world back to its usual flow.