St Mary's Catholic Primary School - Ysgol Gynradd Gatholig y Santes Fair

Eco Council

St Mary’s Eco Council consists of an active group of committed children who share a passion for eco issues and a love for our planet.

Similar to our School Council, interested children put together a manifesto, outlining reasons why they should be elected and then travel to each class to deliver their ideas.

A committee is elected; consisting of Chairperson, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. Each class nominates and elects a Class Rep to attend meetings, share ideas and feedback Eco News.

In St. Mary’s we are very fortunate to have such a wonderful large site to enhance our outdoor provision and the Eco Council seek opportunities to develop, sustain and improve our whole school environment.

An example of some recent initiatives undertaken by our current Eco Councillors include:

  • reducing waste, conserving energy and water
  • working in conjunction with our Forest School to develop an Eco Code of Conduct for everyone to follow

Our passionate team of Eco Warriors in school are very excited to work on projects and initiatives to enhance everyone’s understanding and knowledge of how we can become an eco-friendly school. Twitter and newsletters will inform our parents and friends of St. Mary’s of new developments in our school.

 

Big Dig 2021 - November 2021

In November 2021, we planted just under 300 trees in our school grounds. This was one part of our efforts to reduce climate change. The trees we planted were just "whips", which means they were tiny. They'll take 30 years to grow to their full height but we're looking forward to watching them grow.

There are so many benefits to planting trees in our school grounds:

  • Trees and hedges provide homes and food for wildlife. We already have 10 apple trees in our orchard. Amongst the trees we have planted are trees that will provide food for an even wider variety of animals and birds.
  • Trees clean the air we breathe and they absorb CO2. By offsetting carbon emissions, we are doing our bit to reduce climate change. We hope that in the future the planting of the trees in the area will offset the effect of carbon emissions, provide a habitat for local wildlife, increase biodiversity in our school, create shaded areas for warm days and give us some year-round colour to admire.