• Embrace locally and globally the educational and social values of sustainability, equality and justice and recognise the rights and responsibilities of future as well as current generations.
• Value as well as respect social, cultural and ecological diversity and promote the principles and practices of local and global citizenship for all learners.
• Demonstrate a commitment to engaging learners in real world issues to enhance learning experiences and outcomes, and to encourage learning our way to a better future.

(Standard for Provisional Registration with GTCS, benchmark 1.1)

Mapping of school grounds/area. 

Here is my map of the school grounds. The location of my school is quite strange as it is located at the end of a big housing estate. However, there is still a lot of greenery to be seen. T the back of the school it has very picturesque views. The children even have a large play area built on this grass. This then adjoins to the Academy which allows good relationships and connections to build between the primary and secondary.

Evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school such as garden area, recycling bins, litter picking ‘wardens’, bird boxes, and so on.

When on my serial days there where several instances when I could see that the schools’ ethos was engaged in Sustainable Development. This is because when I was walking around the school grounds there were litter picker monitors patrolling and keeping the grounds clean and tidy and litter free. There was a ‘bird feeder’ box in the grassy garden area. There was a rota for feeding the birds which was situated in my classroom. This meaning I could clearly see I could see clearly how engaged other classes were in taking turns and looking after the birds. The children even have a quiet space where they maintain and look after their own space. The children also looked after and grew their own potatoes which the canteen used and cooked up at the end of the season.

(Quiet Sitting space or outdoor lunch area for the children to enjoy)

(Outdoor community space – the quiet garden)

(Children growing potatoes which were harvested in Autumn and Eaten in the canteen)

(Bird Feeding Area, where different classes take routine turns to feed the birds)

Consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability.

I was very impressed with the space the children had to play in on their lunch and snack breaks. They had access to a large sand area; multiple growing beds and vegetable growing areas made out of recycled tires. This clearly shows that the school us an active participant and the children were actively participating in keeping their school green and world-friendly.

(Children have large sand area with different obstacles to enjoy)

(Children have multiple growing beds in the grass made out of recycled wood to make wooden boxes or recycles tractor tires)

(Children have large sand area to area to enjoy and play in)

(Children have multiple growing beds in the grass made out of recycled wood to make wooden boxes or recycles tractor tires)

 Discussion with children on these aspects of sustainable education.

When looking at the play area and the grounds the children have access to at the school, we had a little discussion with the litter monitors who were looking after the quiet space garden. The children told us how they enjoyed looking after the garden and how they enjoyed being litter monitors. The following points were raised from the discussion:

• Letters are regularly sent out to parents updating them on progress and achievement of the schools’ environment and ethos towards being a green and friendly school
• The school has a turn the tap off as quickly as possible to save water
• Last class of the day has the responsibility to check all computers are shut down so they are not burning away on standby,
• They regularly grow and look after their vegetable grown boxes
• Last year due to the commitments of looking after the birds from individual classes they were successful enough to have blue tit birds nesting in the bird boxes.
• The school has 5 green flags
• Each class has an Eco Monitor where they have to give a speech to the class and then the lass will have a vote for their preferred eco monitor.
• There are 3 different types of bins in the classroom to encourage recycling.
• People volunteer to be litter pickers during their breaks and they are all awarded badges for the time and commitment
• Children can be awarded extra house points for looking after their school and being environmentally friendly.
• The sandpits are a regular area all the children like to play in and the children discussed how lucky and grateful they were for such a good play area.
• The green grassy area is regularly used for football practice and used by the children when the weather is permitting and it is safe to do so.