Eco School

Who we are

Ashley School is recognised as one of the world’s leading eco schools. In 2009 we received the highly acclaimed Ashden award for our efforts in sustainable energy. In 2012 we were awarded the European Commission funded U4 Energy award for sustainable energy and attended the European Awards Ceremony in Brussels. Ashley is also proud to have ‘Green Flag’ status through Eco Schools.

Sustainable living and learning is at the heart of the curriculum and everything we do at Ashley, with all our half termly topics directly linked to an element of sustainable living. We look to develop energy and environmentally conscious individuals who care about the world around them and understand what is required to sustain individual, team and global well-being. This is an approach that is supported by Ofsted :

“Education for sustainable development is about equipping learners with the skills, knowledge and understanding to be effective citizens in a complex and changing world through the curriculum… Through education, people may develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions about the way we do things, individually and collectively, locally and globally, that will improve quality of life now without damaging the planet in the future.” (Ofsted,  Sustainable Development in Learning and Skills Inspections, February 2012)

Here is a video sharing how we live and learn at Ashley School:

What’s been going on at Ashley?

Climate Week Challenge

For this year’s Climate Week Challenge, the whole school took part in a challenge to design the ‘ultimate eco house’. It was enlightening to see how well informed our children are around sustainable living and how creative they can be too. The picture below showing a year one eco house model equipped with solar panels, a wind turbine and a vegetable garden.

Climate Change Week – 4th-8th March

Ashley School’s children, staff and parents participated in the nationwide Climate  Week. Take a look at the Climate Week website and see what we got up to below:

Meat Free Monday - We already enjoy meat free Mondays with our school lunches, but we challenged all children and families and staff to go without meat for their breakfast, lunches and dinners. Too much meat can have bad effects on our environment so we are trying to reduce our consumption just a little.

Waste Free Tuesday - All the classroom and staffroom landfill bins were turned upside down by our eco council, so we were challenged to produce zero waste. Remember, we can still reduce, reuse and recycle, and families took part in this Tuesday challenge too.

Climate Week Challenge Wednesday - A top secret challenge was delivered to each class on the day and groups presented their ideas and were judged, with the best ideas going forward to the national competition. The challenge was to design ‘The Ulimate Eco House’; it was enlightening to see how creative and well informed our children are around sustainable living with some fantasic designs.

Energy Saving and Fairtrade Thursday - We tried to reduce our energy consumption as much as possible and asked parents to join in, spending one hour at home ’switching off’ and enjoying some time with their family by candle light. It was also fairtrade day, with a fairtrade lunch and special guest – Leonard Beighton - speaking to the juniors.

Travel Green Friday - For our last day, the children were challenged to travel to and from school by green methods: bicycle, scooters, walking or car share. Well done to our winning classes – Badger and Dragonfly – who got some delicious fairtrade chocolate for acheieving 100% green travel on the day

 

Big School’s Birdwatch Results

Following the successful Big School’s Birdwatch in January, where children at Ashley recorded bird sightings for one hour a day for six days, the year six children have now analysed the results and have uploaded them on the RSPB website to be included in the national data for scientific research. Click on the link below to see the year six graphs and charts created to represent the birds seen at Ashley during the birdwatch:

Ashley School Birdwatch Results, January 2013

Swan Class Fairtrade Assembly

Swan class’ eco focus is fairtrade. They have been doing lots of exciting research around why fairtrade products are important, as well as which products to look out for that may carry a fairtrade logo. In an assembly, Swan class shared their learning with the junior classes. They also shared the news that it will be Fairtrade Fortnight from 25th February to 10th March, and that they are working with Mrs Long in the kitchen to design a fairtrade school lunch and create ideas for a fairtrade packed lunch. Keep up the great work Swan class.

How do we approach the different dimensions of sustainability?

Energy

Ashley is rated as the best school in Surrey for energy consumption when compared to schools with similar buildings –  take a look at our Display Energy Certificate DEC. We achieve this in two ways: by producing our own renewable energy through our solar panels and locally sourced woodchip biomass boiler, and by energy saving methods. Our year six children monitor our energy on a daily basis using ecoDriver software. Each school building has a weekly energy target agreed by the eco council. In our achievers assembly every week, the year six eco council share whether targets have been achieved. Each time a building achieves its target, the children receive £5 in savings from Mr Dunne. Click on the ecoDriver link to see how much energy we are using and creating right now.

In the summer term Ashley School runs the ‘100 Club Challenge’, where families are challenged to reduce their energy to under 100kWh a week. Those who are successful are celebrated in assembly and receive one of our coveted certificates; we also have a ’50 club’ for our super savers. There is a strong message in school and at home that we can save both money and the environment if we reduce our energy. Read about our project in greater detail on the Eco Schools case study page.

 

 

Healthy Living and Food

Ashley School grows a significant amount of  food, with approximately 25% of the vegetables we eat grown on site, significantly reducing the effects of both transport and needless packaging on the environment. In the last year we have planted a heritage Surrey apple orchard with 32 varieties, potato beds with 26 varieties, 24 varieties of gooseberries and a pear orchard with 21 local varieties.  We want our children to see that the food cycle is a closed loop system where all the waste becomes fuel for the next round of food growing.  Year five, Owl Class, are responsible for food waste weighing and measuring with our kitchen staff.  They work out where and how we can reduce the amount we waste before recycling it into our Ridan composter. Take a look at our food waste measurement on ecoDriver.

Our food growing programme encourages children to see food as something they can grow from seed, rather than something you have to buy in a shop.  We have expanded our food growing from seven vegetable beds to five growing zones and a greenhouse.  We grow a diverse range of food throughout the year.  Our part-time gardener works with the children on our food growing projects, running termly sessions through the seasons and liaising closely with our kitchen in providing school-grown food every week. Read more about how our project helps combat climate change on the Eco Schools case studies site.

We believe our work is inspiring others in similar projects. In September 2011, the Co-operative launched their ‘Green Schools Revolution’ programme live on breakfast television in front of our food growing areas – take a look at the video here: Green Schools Revolution.  In March 2012, we were the feature school for a BBC Learning Zone Eco Maths lesson on how to reduce food miles by growing food on-site (Ashley is featured from 6 minutes 6 seconds into the clip).  In July 2012, our Surrey heritage apple orchard was replicated as an RHS Wisley garden at the Hampton Court Flower Show to promote diversity in food growing.

Also, in July 2012 our school kitchen was recognised as the UK Primary School Catering Team of the Year, awarded by LACA (Local Authorities Caters Association), for its work in closing the loop on food production and sharing its practice with other schools. In our school lunches all our milk is organic, our meat is free range and wherever possible organic, and our fruit and vegetables are both seasonal and locally sourced. If we cannot provide fruit and vegetables from our own extensive food growing areas, we work with our local green grocer to ensure the significant majority of any additional fruit and vegetables are supplied from farms within the home counties. In November 2012, our children led the first ever live Skype lesson on food, run by the NGO ActionAid, in which the children taught a lesson on food growing to three schools in London, Liverpool and Texas, USA. Have a read of our blog on the ActionAid website.

 

Packed Lunches:

Whilst we strongly encourage children to enjoy our family style school lunches, largely locally sourced, organic and always healthy, we also encourage families who choose packed lunches to prepare healthy, waste free meals. Please take a look our advice on How to Prepare Healthy Packed Lunches and also How to Prepare Waste Free Lunches.

In addition to these ideas, so that we can be as sustainable as possible, you might like to think about:

• Are the ingredients used in season?
• Where has the lunch and its contents been grown or produced? Is it local or has it come from overseas?
• Has the lunch and its contents been sourced from a fair-trade producer?
• Cost permitting, is the food organic and / or free range?

 

Delphis Eco:

Year four, Kingfisher Class, support the promotion and sale of Delphis Eco cleaning products at school. Delphis Eco cleaning products are plant based products that contain no harmful chemicals. They are used throughout school and are available to purchase outside our school office for a very reasonable price.

 

Biodiversity

At Ashley we have two bee hives. The year two children participate in learning around the lifecycle of a honey bee and we have already produced and sold some delicious organic honey.

 

As a result of a year six Design for Change project, we have a bird hide on our school field. The year six children run a bird watching club with the juniors, and all of the school participates in the RSPB Big Schools Bird Watch in January.

 

 

We have five healthy chickens which are cared for by the children. They roam our grounds throughout the day and give us eggs every morning. We take great pride in the diversity of food, as already mentioned. A sustainable future is about celebrating diversity in all things.

 

 

Recycling and Waste

At Ashley, each class has recycling bins and we do our best to reduce, reuse and recycle. Year three are responsible for monitoring our litter and recycling. Each week they record how much waste is produced in all the classrooms and staffroom; they also do a weekly litter pick around our school grounds. For those children who have a packed lunch, we strongly encourage parents to provide lunches free of packaging.

Year five, Owl Class, are responsible for measuring food waste. Everyday they weigh the waste and update the weight and menu to ecoDriver. They then review the lunches and speak to the kitchen to help design a lunch menu that produces as little waste as possible. Any food waste we create at school is composted, which is monitored by our year one children. We have two composts at school: our compost on the field for fruit, teabags and vegetables; and our Ridan composter which allows us to compost cooked food waste. Our food waste is in fact fuel for our food growing.

 

 

Water

We ensure that we do not waste water in school. Year five, Kestrel Class, are responsible for monitoring our water use. They check the meters on ecoDriver every week and look for ways to make further savings. Year five co-ordinated a Cycle for Water fundraising campaign in 2012. The event captured the emotions of the whole school on how vital water is to our world and raised £6,500 which has funded water projects for schools in Thailand and Honduras. Click on the link to see the truly inspirational Cycle for Water video showcasing our fundraising efforts.

Transport

We are one of the best schools in Surrey for utilising green modes of transport to school. A large proportion of our children cycle, scoot or walk to school – methods embraced by our staff as well. Each year we take part in the Golden Boot Challenge where each class monitors our modes of transport to school for a month. A campaign started by our reception children in the summer of 2012 has resulted in a new, safer road network outside school. The reception children were concerned by the fast traffic and spoke to the local council who have subsequently reduced the traffic from Ashley Road onto the one way system to a one lane entry.

 

Global Perspective

Year four, Swan Class, are responsible for promoting fair trade products in school. They try to ensure that food and items bought from overseas are fair trade products, as well as sharing their understanding with the rest of the school.

Ashley has a partner school in Uganda, who year three link with during their summer topic focus on rainforests. We also have a link with the Riverside School in India, who inspired us to engage in Design for Change projects every term, where each class acts to improve an issue that concerns them, either in school, in the local community or in the wider world. Year six visit Chamonix, France, in June for their New Leaders in Sustainability expedition. Click on the New Leaders in Sustainbility link to read last year’s blog and watch the fantastic video to see what the children get up to.  The trip focuses on what we need to be well and live in harmony with our world, and the children look at the impact of climate change first hand, seeing and touching the nearby Mer de Glace glacier which is melting at a worrying speed. During the trip, the children make pledges on how they will positively impact their individual, team and global well-being.

 

Eco Partnerships

Our successes in developing a leading eco school have been achieved through partnerships. We embrace our local community and businesses and realise that to be sustainable, we must all support each other. Here are some of the partners who continue to support Ashley in our work in sustainability:

Wiles Greenworld

We ensure at school that all of our office supplies and the paper we used to make resources for the children’s learning, come from a sustainable source, made from recycled materials. Wiles Greeworld are one of the leading green office suppliers in the country and were awarded Best Green Company by The Sunday Times in 2011. In addition, Wiles Greenworld share our passions and have made substantial sponsorship donations for our year six Chamonix expeditions. Have a look at their website for details: Wiles Greenworld

 

The Naked Grocer

We are lucky to have a fantastic local green grocers close to school who share our values and outlook on food growing. The Naked Grocer in Walton support local and UK growers first and our very proud of the UK’s agricultural and horticultural history. They try to sell any imported goods that cannot be grown in the UK by seafreight to minimise the impact of transportation on the environment. They got their name because they do not use needless packaging to store and sell their produce – an approach that everyone at Ashley wholeheartedly embraces. Our children have visited the grocers and seen first hand how nearby supermarkets do things differently, and in our children’s minds, wastefully. Just visit The Naked Grocer website to order an organic fruit and vegetable box delivered to your door.

The Co-operative

In March 2012 the Co-operative launched their Green Schools Revolution at Ashley School. The Co-operative supports schools in their work around sustainability and food growing. Ashley has worked with the Co-operative to help develop ideas for engaging more children and schools in sustainability. Take a look at the video for the Green Schools Revolution, when the Co-operative and TV farmer and food grower Jimmy Doherty visited Ashley. The visit was televised live on ITV morning Daybreak.

ActionAid

ActionAid is a global charity that fights for a world without poverty. In 2010, ActionAid worked with our headteacher, Richard Dunne, on the 10:10 campaign – a national drive to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 10% during 2010. In October 2012, Ashley worked in collaboration with ActionAid again – this time producing a first ever live Skype lesson. The lesson was led by four year six children from Ashley, teaching children in three schools in London, Liverpool and Texas, USA, on potato growing. Read our blog on the ActionAid website.