The summer term has seen our fabulous senior Eco Team members leave to sit exams – we’re sad to see them go. The remaining Eco Team would like to wish our old S6 good luck in the future and hopes that they won’t forget all their hard work for the environment in their lives after school!

Our junior Team has also worked hard. In June, they represented the school at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Eco-Schools Celebration at Napier University and received a certificate in acknowledgement of renewing our Green Flag this year.

The following week, the junior Team ran a workshop at Changeworks’ Make Waste History summit based on paper use in the school, thanks to data and ideas provided by Barnaby Ghaui, a student of architecture at Edinburgh University who had been working with the Team. The summit was hosted by Portobello High School and discussed ways of reducing waste in schools. It proved an excellent base for sharing good practice and its activities included a trash fashion show, rubbish art competition and even a speech from a former pupil. Catriona Patterson now studies Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews and attributes much of her enthusiasm for taking action for the environment to the opportunities she was given in Portobello’s Eco Committee.A full account of the summit is available in the Edinburgh Reporter’s article here.

Other pupils have also been busy with Eco Schools work. A large group of our S3 pupils teamed up with Jewel & Esk College students and staff to do a litter pick at Portobello beach and Figgate Park in May for the National Spring Clean. A photo taken of the event by a Jewel & Esk student, shown below, has since won the National Spring Clean photo competition, sponsored by Greggs.

Now we’re back from the summer holidays and already planning for the year ahead. Just now we’re doing our Environmental Review and will be using that to make our Action Plan for the coming year. We’d like to remind all staff and pupils at Portobello High School, as well as parents and community members, that we’d love for them to get involved with our Eco-Schools work in the coming years. If you have any questions or comments about what we do, or would like to come to a Committee meeting to share your ideas, please contact Miss Sophie Bigg at sophie.bigg@portobello.edin.sch.uk.