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CYNGOR ECO PANT Y RHEDYN ECO COUNCIL

OUR ECO-COUNCIL MEMBERS 2009-2010:

Frankie Edwards

ANAFON

ALAW

OGWEN

CRAFNANT

PERIS

OUR ECO CODE:-

ECO SCHOOL CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 2010

-by Frankie Edwards

When I got to school, I was very excited because I was going to an Eco meeting in Venue Cymru with Mr Taylor and another boy from our school called Luke Francis.

We set off about 9:00 o clock in Mr Taylor's car. We were listening to the radio and heard that a fisherman had blinded a tortoise.I was horrified!

We took about 25 minutes to get to Venue Cymru.When we arrived all the pupils were given a sticker with a colour on it, Luke and I had a yellow one and these showed us which group we were in. We then had to go upstairs into a big hall. The hall was split in half.One half was an area with lots of interesting things. That was where a met a lovely lady called Carla.On the other side was an area full of chairs. There was a big stage at the front. We went to that area to listen to a talk from the people who were running the conference.

We were split into our groups and we did some extra activities.First of all we went to learn about birds and we learnt how to make a bird cake. I has lots of fun and learnt a lot from that lesson.After that we learnt about how we can save the world.

Then we had some lunch. I had some sandwiches, salad, fried peppers on a stick and for pudding I had flapjack.

Next we went to a water lesson and we did a very interesting experiment. I was chosen to help with the timer. We did some art and craft to make catchers. Some of the children were struggling so I helped them.They were quite hard to make and my hands got very sticky from the glue. Finally we got to play a game where we had to put the right items in the right boxes. I had lots of fun.

At the end of the day we had a vote on an electrical remote to see how we thought the day had gone. Some questions were for the teachers and others were for us. Before we went home we said 'Thank you' to the organisers and the council members and we went back to school.

I learnt a lot that day and I am now sharing what I learnt with my friends so that they will hopefully pass it on.

FRANKIE EDWARDS Anafon

CONWY RECYCLING VISIT
Before February half term, members of the Conwy Recycling Unit came recycling centre

into the school to talk to us about the environment. They talked about REDUCE, RE-USE and RECYCLE. They showed us the landfill site where all our rubbish goes. They also told us what would happen if we didn't REDUCE, RE-USE and RECYCLE.

Did you know that 33% of all our food waste is found in one bin? All that food waste could be turned into a compost. Only a small amount of glass, metal and plastic are found in bins nowadays. Click on the picture to find out more about Conwy Recycling.

At the end of the presentation we were split into four groups and we played a quiz.

by Yasmin Viccari Anafon

On Thursday, November 13th, the ECO-Council presented an assembly to the school children. We discussed the reasons why we needed a council and more importantly what we can do to help change things for the better!

What is Eco-Schools?

The Eco-Schools programme is an international initiative that encourages pupils to engage with environmental and sustainable development issues. It provides a highly structured system for the environmental management of schools.

The programme is a learning resource and topic areas include Litter, Waste Minimisation, Transport, Healthy Living, Energy, Water, School Grounds and Global Citizenship.

Pupils take key roles in decision making and participation in order to reduce the environmental impact of their school. In this way, Eco-Schools extends learning beyond the classroom and develops responsible citizenship attitudes both at home and in the wider community.

The Eco-Schools International Green Flag, awarded to schools with high achievement in their programme, is a recognised and respected eco-label for performance in Education for Sustainable Development. The Eco-Schools programme is a long-term activity, with the award being re-assessed and renewed every two years.

Eco-Schools are distributed throughout all 22 Welsh Local Authorities and include a broad range of Infants, Primary, Secondary and Special Needs schools. There are presently over 1500 registered Eco-Schools in Wales with 230 having achieved Green Flag status.

All material is available in both Welsh and English and is provided free to registered schools

The scheme continues to expand rapidly and has received support from almost all Welsh Local Authorities together with ACCAC, ESTYN and numerous environmental organisations.

The Eco-Schools Programme is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Countryside Council for Wales and Waste Awareness Wales.

Where did the programme come from?

It was at the UN Conference on Environment & Development (Rio Earth Summit) in1992 that a need to involve young people in finding solutions to environmental and sustainable development challenges at local level was identified.

As a result the Eco-Schools programme was developed in 1994 by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and introduced into the UK in 1995.

In Wales the programme is managed by Keep Wales Tidy.

WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF JOINING THIS VERY IMPORTANT SCHEME!

Why get involved?

An increasing number of schools throughout Europe are committed to the continuous improvement of their environmental performance. No matter the kind, size or location of your school, Eco-Schools can help you make a difference.

In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government is uniquely committed to promoting sustainable development. Eco-Schools provides the ideal structure to support sustainable activities, which will help to achieve government targets.

Eco-Schools is more than an environmental management system for your school. It enables its users to analyse its operations in order to become more sustainable. It is a programme for you to use in order to promote environmental awareness in a way that links to many curriculum subjects and enables you to tackle many cross-curricular areas such as citizenship, education for sustainable development, PSE, health education and global issues. It is an award scheme that will also raise the profile of your school in the wider community.

The Eco-Schools process is holistic. It works by involving the whole school - pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and governors - together with members of the local community - parents, the local authority, the media and local organisations and businesses. It will encourage teamwork and help to create a shared understanding of what is needed in order to run a school in a way that respects and enhances the environment. We hope you will find the process of becoming an Eco-School challenging, thought provoking, enriching and very exciting.

Eco-Schools offers your school:

an opportunity to make sustainable development issues a part of school life
a chance to reduce the environmental impact of the whole school
an opportunity to help develop young people's decision making skills
curriculum materials and ideas for resources, projects and events
access to a network of local and national support agencies
links with other schools in Wales, the UK and Europe
a prestigious award at Bronze, Silver or the internationally recognised Green Flag level.
opportunities for local and national publicity
potential for financial savings due to lower energy bills and waste collection charges

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT- www.eco-schoolswales.org