Bishopton Primary School
There is no wrong way to organise an Eco-Committee, whatever works best for your context. Bishopton Primary School pupils shared with us how they organise their Eco-Committee in a way that works for their school.
At the beginning of each year pupils are asked if they would like to be a member of the Eco-Committee.
Staff are also approached by two Eco-Schools Co-ordinators. Everyone who wants to join is welcome to promote a whole school approach.
Returning members of the Eco-Committee hold a welcome meeting for new members and explain their aims for the year ahead. Throughout the year, the Eco-Committee discusses ideas, consults the rest of the school, and reaches decisions as a group, and then works to make changes across the school. Eco-Committee members take turns at leading the sessions and taking minutes.
The main way they keep everyone in the school updated about their work is through the school's Eco-Committee Noticeboard in the dining hall which everyone sees daily. The Committee keeps their latest meeting minutes here and display their main focus for that term.
After each Eco-Committee meeting, class teachers schedule time for Committee members to share what they have done with their class. This helps to keep everyone updated. The Committee also gets time at assemblies to share what they are doing with the whole school.
Eco-Committee members gather Measuring data on their projects and share this with the rest of the school at assemblies, and through graphs and displays on their noticeboard. For example, after noticing there was a big litter problem within the school grounds, they measured what was being collected and produced a graph. Over the following months they held daily litter picks across the school, created litter posters and spoke with the janitors about the positioning of bins to ensure easy access throughout the playground.
The Eco-Committee recognises the importance of a litter free environment and feel the need to remind the whole
school of their standards for the year. The committee is split into litter picking groups and follow a timetable to ensure that any remaining litter is cleared from the school grounds and have been very pleased to find that litter levels have decreased significantly since the beginning of their efforts.
Meet Earth Boy Bishopton Primary School's Eco Mascot. He is displayed throughout the school including on recycle bins.
