Children in Class 2 have been busy this year being Eco-Warriors. We have been learning about the environment and sustainability in many areas of the curriculum, carrying out school environmental reviews, writing letters, making changes, making posters and videos for the school and our community and generally doing our best to make Wiggonby an environmentally-friendly school. In the Autumn term we gained a Bronze ‘Eco-school Award’ and in the Spring term we have gained a Silver award. We are working towards the next step, which is a Green Flag award. Here are some of the things that we do at Wiggonby. 

One of the things that we identified from our School Environmental Review was that we could all do better with saving energy and water. Children were not aware of the environmental impact and lights and taps were being left on around the school. We set to work designing posters for the whole school. Instead of laminating the posters, we recycled some old plastic wallets so that we didn’t use extra plastic that we didn’t need. 
 

We took part in Water Workshops to learn about conserving water.
 

Monitoring in March 2021 showed that there had been some improvement, but we could still do better. We are hoping that our Eco Code will help to remind people to switch off lights. 

Although we have recycled paper and card for a few years, we were not recycling any other materials in school. We decided to write to Mr Brooks to ask for some recycling bins. Soon after, our new recycling bins arrived! The bins are promoted on a poster on our notice board.
 

Our monitoring has shown that the bins are well used by all children and staff. Children as young as 6 are even rinsing their yogurt pots and plastic lids for recycling without being reminded by teachers. 
 

We are making efforts to reduce plastic used in school. We no longer use single-use plastic cups, cutlery or straws. In class 2, we needed some new rulers, so got wooden ones instead of plastic. We use recycled plastic margarine tubs for our maths resources. 

Our children are always quick to notice any litter that needs to be picked up. They know that it is dangerous for animals and can end up in our waterways and eventually in the sea. 
 

Class 3 took bin bags with them when they visited the beach at Silloth this year, and we will do the same for every trip in future. 
 

During our review in March 2021, we found out that children are doing more litter-picking and beach-cleaning with their families. 

Our school garden was in need of an update, so our eco-committee made some designs! Our ideas were used to make a fantastic new garden, complete with bird feeders, bird boxes, a big hotel, space for plants and vegetables, a compost bin and even a POND! 🐸 Some fairy doors were also found while the garden was being renovated! 
 

We carried out minibeast surveys before and after the work. We have seen a large increase in the number of minibeasts. There are more flies and worms than before, perhaps thanks to the pond. While we were outside, we have also noticed that more birds are visiting the garden. However, there has been a decrease in the number of woodlice. The garden is still new, so the eco-committee will continue to monitor the woodlouse population over the next few months to see if it recovers. 
 

We are taking part in ‘Get Cumbria buzzing’ and are planting wild flowers that help our bees, butterflies and other pollinators. 

We love trees at Wiggonby! 
 

Mrs Turney runs our forest school, and each class visits the local woods every week for part of the year. Wiggonby School has a Green Tree award from the Woodland Trust. 
 

Our 23 eco-committee members were each given a fir tree (in a biodegradable cup) to care for and eventually plant. Over lockdown, we even brought our trees to virtual meetings! 🌲 

At Wiggonby, children take part in a variety of activities to keep fit and healthy. Our excellent PE coach (Miss Hodgson from Wright Sports Services) runs after school sports sessions as well as leading PE lessons. In 2020, we installed a track on the field and purchased cycles and helmets to help our children to stay active. It is very well used and incredibly popular! We have regular challenges. This year so far, we have raised money for children in need by doing as many laps as we could, and the whole school has worked together to do 5000 laps in four weeks. Every one of our children participated in the challenge, with some children running as many as 50 laps in a single day! 
 

Children know that keeping active is good for a healthy body and a healthy mind. They know that walking, running and cycling are better for the environment than driving. Some children are already encouraging their families to make healthy and environmentally-friendly choices, such as running to the post box instead of taking the car. 

We have healthy snacks at Wiggonby. 
 

Children are taught about balanced diets and how to prepare healthy food. 
 

Children learn about sustainability, fair trade and environmental issues involving food production and transport. 
 

Wiggonby recently gained a ‘Healthy Schools’ award.