Saving the planet starts with Litter Picking!

Donning high-vis jackets and each clutching a litter grabber, a group of enthusiastic children from Ringwood Junior School recently spent a session tidying up parts of Ringwood.

They were ‘Eco-Warriors’ one representing each of the 12 classes in the school, the children aged 7-11 years. They cleared rubbish from local green spaces around Ringwood, near their school, with equipment kindly loaned by the New Forest District Council.

The children had great fun foraging on grass verges and in bushes, discovering an amazing amount of litter. They eventually collected almost 4 sacks full, carefully separating litter to be recycled, from rubbish, and were really pleased to be able to do something useful in our Ringwood community. The litter pickers had an unexpected treat at the end of their hard working session: packets of ‘Haribo’ sweets all round, with wrappers carefully disposed of, naturally!

Says teacher Graham Crane, who led the litter pickers: “It’s been great for the children to take part in this activity, realising how they can play a small part in helping our planet”.

Environment Team

Eco warriors, Health and Safety Busters and Gardening Club.

Education should teach children to respect the environment (Article 29)

Working together, a team of pupil, staff and governor representatives help to improve the school’s global footprint. We aim to raise the school’s awareness on environmental issues and look for things the school can do to become more environmentally friendly. Through our work, we also aim to involve the local community and help to raise awareness on topical issues for the area.

The Environment Team consists of Eco Warriors, Health and Safety Busters and members of the Gardening Club. Children, who are interested in taking on one of these roles, apply for the post, having read the job description, to make sure they feel suitably equipped to do the job. An interview gives them the opportunity to show their commitment to, and understanding of the role. Not everyone is successful, as in life, but there are a wide range of important jobs available and over the course of the 4 years everyone finds something that they can contribute to.

Eco warriors meet fortnightly to discuss any issues and suggest next steps for the school.

The school is proud to have achieved the Bronze award certificate.

Health and Safety Busters meet once a half-term with members of the Environment, Health and Safety Committee to conduct a site survey. They look at and discuss issues that arise in the school building and also in the school grounds and make recommendations to be actioned by the school through the Finance and Admin Manager and Caretaker.

Health and Safety Busters promote healthy eating by being active in the dining hall and looking for examples of a balanced diet which incorporates the main food groups.

The Gardening Club is active in keeping the school borders and pond area looking attractive and colourful. Throughout the year, they plant spring bulbs, attend to the vegetable patch and maintain the pond.

The School Council

Each year the School Council is elected democratically in the first part of the Autumn Term. Children who wish to be on the School Council have the opportunity to set out the reasons why they should be elected to represent their class. Every class elects one representative, 12 in total, and this may be either a boy or girl. Year 5 and 6 councillors may put themselves forward to run for chairperson, supported by a campaign team to persuade people to vote for them. At the end of the week, the whole school community votes anonymously for the candidate they believe should be chair.

Every child has the right to say what they think should happen when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account (Article 12)

The School Council meets to discuss suggestions from the school community, share ideas and make decisions. Currently, the School Council are involved in improving the Playground Area. Design ideas have been carried forward from last term and a fund raising campaign is underway to help purchase  more items for this play area.