There is a buzz around Hill House at the moment around the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award.
Applying for an Eco-Schools Green Flag is the perfect way to acknowledge, reward, and celebrate the ecological achievements of our young people. It helps us to create the next generation of innovative, inspirational environmentalists and tells our local community, that Hill House is forward-thinking and actively engaged in protecting our ONE PLANET.
Louisa Burden, Head of Education at Hill House School and “Green Dragon” commented on this award and the work that the school are doing:
“One Planet Living is such an exciting initiative that really underpins the work that we do at Hill House. It has provided a structure and framework on which to base changes towards becoming a more sustainable school and home environment.
One Planet Living threads through everything we do, from teaching about looking after our environment within curriculum topics to celebrating key theme days throughout the year such as the RSPB’s Big Schools Bird Watch Day to thinking more responsibly about what we use, for example: refilling our shampoo bottles and replacing our plastic toothbrushes with bamboo brushes. Everyone has a role to play and a responsibility to do their bit.
This is why the framework works so well for us as we have been able to link it through our school development plan to really be able to focus on exciting initiatives and make key changes.
One Planet Living has prompted us to start to work towards the Eco Schools Green Flag Award which is international and recognised by organisations such as UNESCO. It is a symbol of a school’s commitment to environmental education. We have chosen to focus on three Eco Topics; Biodiversity / Global Citizenship and Healthy Living.
As evidence towards the award, we have created:
- A staff and young person Eco Committee
- An Environmental Review
- An Eco Action Plan
- A curriculum map full of ideas for activities
- An Eco-Events calendar
This has been a great way to link the One Planet Living framework with the Eco Schools Topics in order to give everyone the opportunity to get involved. We are aiming to send our submission for the award at the beginning of May, which is very exciting!
We have also introduced a One Planet Living IEP target for every young person and each member of the education team also has an eco-focused appraisal target that they can work on throughout the year. These initiatives have enabled us to plan exciting and memorable learning experiences for our young people and help them to understand how they can look after their planet as well as themselves! All of this work has been very exciting and has provided a fresh and very current and important focus for us all.”
Well done to everyone at Hill House School for your incredible efforts to help the Environment.
If you would like to find out more about the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award Click Here.
You find out more about Hill House' One Planet Initiative HERE.