ESMS are delighted to announce that our schools have been awarded Green Flag status by Eco-Schools. This is the highest award which can be given to an organisation in recognition of its work to promote environmental issues.
Eco-Schools, the largest sustainable schools programme in the world, connects 19.5 million children, young people and educators through sustainable development education with 67 countries on all five continents participating. The aim is for young people and the school community to improve their understanding of environmental issues, and engage with the environment and actively protect it.
The Mary Erskine School led the way with work their Eco-Committee has undertaken in recent years, and MES achieved a Silver Award in 2016 for their work.
To gain Green Flag status across all three schools, the MES Eco-Committee prepared a report covering the work of all three schools to support their application. A Sixth Form student from Stewart's Melville College joined the committee to help consolidate the work of their own 'green committee', Greenfingers.
The schools decided to focus on the following three topics for their application; Litter, School Grounds, and Food & Environment.
Examples of the green initaitives undertaken by the commmittees included planning a litter tidy-up in the surrounding Ravelston Woods for the summer term at MES and improving the School Grounds with the addition of new bird boxes, an allotment (run by the Allotment Club) full of vegetables, fruit and flowers, while SMC's Greenfingers cleared space to create a new allotment for plants and vegetables. The Conservation Club at MES also worked with Product Design to make Hedgehog Houses.
To decrease food waste, posters were displayed in the MES dining room encouraging pupils to only take what they will eat and 'Prep at Rav' discussed food waste with our Nursery children, helping them to visualise how waste builds up. Our nursery children also benefit from comprehensive outdoor learning during Forest School.
We are very proud of all of the committees and clubs which support green initiatives here at ESMS, and of the way they work together to maintain the green status of our schools.
