Here at Haddenham Community Infant School we are proud of the Eco initiatives we have in place. We are committed to looking after the environment and our children have opportunities and experiences that help them understand how to do this. We work hard to ensure that we are tackling green issues in our school and in the wider community.
Each class elects two Eco Reps in September. These children meet with Mrs Crosland regularly. They give suggestions as to how the school can be more eco friendly and ensure the eco agenda is at the heart of school life. The adults in the Eco Council also meet each half term. The Eco Council is made up of people from the school community and local community.
Every child is responsible for composting their food waste at the end of playtime and lunchtime. Each class has a light monitor who ensures we are saving energy by switching off lights when they are not needed. Eco Reps are also responsible for switching off computers and monitors when not in use.
Our Gardening Club regularly uses the fruit compost and rain collected in the many water butts around the school grounds.
Our Eco Reps ensure the playground is litter free and are regularly seen out and about in the playgrounds and the neighbouring park collecting litter. We have playground recycle bins so everyone in our school community is able to recycle food waste, paper, plastic, ink cartridges and batteries when on the school site.
In our woodland area we have a very special Hedgehog hotel. Each class designed plans as to how they thought the hedgehog hotel should look. We also held a competition to name our new visitors. St. Tiggywinkles came and rehoused three hedgehogs and we are all very keen to look after them. The Eco Reps are responsible for feeding the hedgehogs each week.
This year we have many plans to enhance our school environment to ensure we attract wildlife to our school grounds. We are in the process of regenerating our pond area. So far we have cleared the pond area with help from parents, children and staff. We have chopped, lopped and sawn to clear the stone wall so we now have a natural viewing platform so we are able to view the changing seasons. We have also planted several buddleia to attract butterflies.
We have collected herb cuttings to plant in our walled area to create a herb sensory garden. We can't wait to use the herbs in our cooking!
We have also extended the school gardening plot with the help of our expert gardeners. A wide range of fruits and vegetables have been planted ready to be harvested in September. Plans are afoot to make soup and chutneys for out harvest festival.
The Eco Reps have learned about endangered animals and have spent their lunchtimes designing and painting endangered animal murals to remind their friends of the fragile world in which we live.
Finally our outside learning gazebo has been completed with benches and seating for all the children to use to explore the great outdoors. Our children love to explore the great outdoors and are seen out and about collecting, identifying and sketching insects and plants.
