16th - 30th January 2012

Birdwatch update:

On a chilly Tuesday afternoon last week our intrepid Eco-Warriors braved the cold to help complete the Nationwide RSPB bird survey.  Mrs Barber set up a makeshift bird hide and Mrs Lee scattered bird seed near by and the children watched and waited quietly for the birds to come.  We were not disappointed as just 2 minutes into our watch two beautiful blue tits landed right near by our hide.  After that we crept to the field and saw so many kinds of birds it was amazing.  Using binoculars we were able to identify 13 different varieties!  The children had to mark off a recording sheet how many of each variety we could see.  We hope to do a few more bird watches at different times of the day and year to see if there is a change in what we see.

Eco-Warriors Update July 2011.....Sunflowers?

22nd November to 3rd December 2010 inclusive

Eco-warriors this term are helping the school save energy by getting involved in a nationwide campaign to 'Switch Off' for a fortnight! We hope to raise awareness of how much energy we waste when we leave lights and IT equipment on and let heat go out of open doorways. The Eco Warriors will be prowling the school looking for energy offenders and awarding points for energy efficiency so watch out. This message can be reinforced at home to help us all cut down our bills near Christmas!

After the summer, our Eco-garden is looking a bit sad and in need of care and attention. We need to weed and clear out the vegetables that have fruited and seeded and do our Autumn planting. When we have elected the School Council, we will be able to elect our Eco-Warriors. Some are already busy organising our recycling of paper and card in school. They collect our green bins each day and gather all the recyclables together.

Don't forget to log in for news of the next Eco-warrior projects.

Year 1 and 2 Outdoor day

In the summer term the whole of Years 1 and 2 spent most of a day enjoying the outdoors with a set of activities based on previous work about ‘Me and My World’. They had thought about what particular arrangements would be made and the resources needed to make it happen. The emphasis was on enjoying and observing nature. This was the stimulus for art. We also aimed to be unconfined by classroom walls; build on social skills by playing trust games and, cooperating with older children, put up tent shelters. We then enjoyed some e time to ‘chill out’ inside them.

All food was eaten outside and the children had been encouraged to prepare a low waste packed lunch. The waste that was generated - both recyclable and landfill provided an insight into the quantities of material thrown away which for an Eco-school gave us ‘food’ for thought!

It was a very enjoyable day, boosted by the sunny weather and the children being so well-behaved and motivated. Thank you to Mrs Barber for organising such a successful day.

Latest July 2010

Our Team of Eco-warriors have been very busy in the Eco-garden this term. They have planted (and helped to eat) salads, chives, basil, courgettes and potatoes. We are part of a Learning Outside the Curriculum Project and our Eco-garden is one of our projects. Mrs Turner, our wonderful cook, has prepared salads from our produce and cooked our courgettes. Next term we will elect a new band of Eco-warriors to help us achieve our aims of sustainability. Even our Governors have got involved in this in a recent meeting and were very pleased to see all the progress we have made. We will try to get even better next year. We have lots of goals.

February 2010

A new band of Fenstanton and Hilton Eco-Warriors has been elected and have already begun their duties. We have a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Vice-Secretary and they will be publishing our decisions and actions on the website. Our first task is to sort out the Eco-Garden and get it ready for planting. Mr Ron Jacobs has donated some broad bean seeds which we will be planting soon. The Quiet Garden is also being cleared by the children ready for some new planting.

What have we done so far?

• Elected a new Eco-Warriors Committee for 2008/9 and 2010/11
• Re-established our Class Eco-Code
• Made our Vegetable garden with raised beds constructed from recycled plastic windows
• Grown sunflowers, lettuces and courgettes and Mrs Turner has cooked them in the school kitchen
• Tidied up the Quiet Garden with help from Barclays staff
• Had an Eco-day
• Added Reduce, Re-use and Recycle to the Golden Rules
• Got the Bronze and Silver Eco-Awards
• Created a Logo
• Been in the local newspapers

What next?

• Year 3 and 4 Eco-warriors will make sure all our fruit and vegetable waste is composted – they will make sure the green waste is collected each day to put into the composter.
• Winter planting for the garden with help from the community
• Continue to maintain the Quiet Garden – Year 5/6 Eco-Warriors to draw up a rota
• Improve the 3Rs in school – audit – use the Class Eco-monitors to encourage energy saving, recycling etc.
• Have another Eco-Day
• Reduce energy use in school to save money and the planet

Our Supporters

Thank you to:

Barclays Bank – They gave us a grant of £500 and also some hard labour planting and tidying up the Quiet Garden. With the grant we were able to buy the materials to make the raised beds, a revolving composter

Madingley Mulch – They have donated a class set of hand forks and trowels and masses of mulch and compost.

John Course - who worked with the children constructing the raised beds and also did a lot of hard digging.

Gardman Plc who donated bird boxes and bird seed

Unwins seeds have also offered to donate all our seeds for next year too

Mrs Turner for cooking our produce.

Our Aims

• Find ways to save Energy and Water
• Look after our vegetable garden
• Refurbish the Wildlife garden
• Look after our Quiet Garden
• Creation of a Small Orchard as part of the Garden
• Develop understanding and commitment to the principles of 3R's in School - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
• Adapting the Curriculum so that Eco-concerns are included in the work we do. Recently we had an exciting Eco-Day. The whole school created an Eco-Code, designed a logo for the eco-warriors and researched the 3Rs. Every child also created a new product through re-using and recycling other materials
• Involving the Local Community in the Project - governors, local businesses etc - we have been lucky to have had support from various local businesses both with products and with time from their employees. Businesses include Barclays Bank, Madingley Mulch, John Course Landscapes, Gardman plc, and Unwins Seed

If you are interested in helping or supporting any of our projects, please contact the school.