The members of the Eco Group are prepared and ready to welcome eco group representatives from across the Borders for the inaugural Jedburgh Eco Summit.

The JGC Eco Group have been working hard to prepare for this event with sustainable name badges being custom made in co-operation with the technical department, speeches being prepared to introduce our wonderful guest speakers, and classes working together to create ice-breaker questions.

We look forward to kicking everything off with some eco-themed get-to-know-me questions and some networking between eco group representatives.

This term the eco committee have been hard at work. We have made progress in a number of different areas and are working on some really exciting things!

After a meeting with Ayliffe Rose, the eco committee have been working towards the hosting of a cross-schools eco summit. The day is intended to bring together eco groups from around the Borders to work together, share ideas, and learning from guest speakers.

We have also been working on recycling in the school with progress being made to better signpost recycling bins and what can and cannot be put into them.

Finally, we have had a number of exciting nature sightings around the school. These can be found on our recent sightings page.

This spring has brought a hive of activity at the school garden and across the wider community.

A nesting nuthatch has been spotted at the school. Our very own Ms. Lambard has been keeping an eye on the nest and has noted that they are now feeding the new hatchlings.

A red and black frog hopper has also been spotted in the school garden.

Finally, a Gwynne’s Mining Bee was spotted. This bee is a solitary bee found in grassland and open woodland between March and May. It is fairly common and feeds on a wide variety of plants including coltsfoot, dandelion and daffodil pollen which we have on the campus. It lays its eggs underground.

Over the summer and autumn terms, the Eco Group have been all hands on deck, working across a number of areas in our Eco Schools action plan. Here is just a quick insight into some of the things we have achieve so far.

In eco club, we have been addressing a number of issues across the school that impact our environmental and ecological footprint. Students have been working on various projects and have been building a number of key skills in the process such as communication, group work, organisation, and responsibility.

S4

One of our S4s, Josh, has been working with key figures across the school to ensure a more consistent and correct usage of the various bins on campus. He has been seeking ways in which students can be better encouraged to pay attention what can and cannot be placed in the recycling bins. As part of this, he has designed a survey that will gather information concerning student views on the recycling and waste system in the school. The data from this will then be used to create a presentation addressing any concerns or issues that may arise and further educating the rest of the school on how to properly utilise the waste and recycling bins.

S3

Two of our S3s, Finlay and James, have also been hard at work. Together they have created a survey that gathered information about the ways in which people travelled to and from the campus. This allowed us to better understand travel and how we may be able to start addressing this. A key aim of the eco group, and a step in our Eco Schools action plan, is to reduce the number of people relying on carbon-intense modes of transport, such as cars, and instead encouraging those who are able to walk or cycle to school instead.

After completing their survey, Finlay and James also worked on fundraising through the sale of Christmas cards.

Primary

Our primary cohort has also been busy. Primary Fives have been doing weekly litter picks and have been recording these. This is having a big impact, keeping our campus clean and litter-free. Our Primary Sevens have also been hard at work creating a festive box for clothing donations to encourage reuse rather than refuse. They have also made a number of posters for the eco group that have been placed around the school.