Thorner C of E Primary School in Leeds given Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation for environmental endeavours

Thorner C of E Primary School has been given the Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation in recognition of pupils focusing on the how environmentally friendly the school grounds are, litter and biodiversity. The Eco-Schools website states the accreditation is “the perfect way to acknowledge, reward and celebrate the ecological achievements of young people”. Efforts have been coordinated by teacher Carol Daniel, who has insisted learning about the environment at a young age is crucial.

"I do feel it is incredibly important,” she said “Doing this project has opened the children's eyes, there was a lot they didn't actually know. If you teach them early, that will go through their lifetime and become second nature to them.”

With the help of parents, governors and members of staff, pupils took on various projects to meet the criteria for the accreditation and help protect the planet. They prepared flower beds, planted seeds and took care of them with watering, and also conducted a school-wide clean up that involved all classes. An environmental review was also carried out, during which pupils established what areas for improvement the school has with regards to its environmental endeavours.

“We applied to do the Eco-Schools Green Flag a couple of years ago,” Mrs Daniel explained. “It got parked because of the lockdown. There are 10 areas you can choose from, you choose three to focus on. We chose to focus on school grounds, litter and biodiversity. We were very lucky to get some resources from the local garden centre to help us, like wild flower seeds and bird seeds. The children had to come up with their own eco code, and we had our own eco ambassadors who led it. It was two children from each year group from year one up to year six.

"I could burst [with pride], I couldn’t wait to tell the headteacher. I was jumping up and down because it was a bit of a race towards the end. When we got it, I thought we’d won the lottery. They want to do more things, they want to do timetables so classes can go out and take turns doing litter picking. I am unbelievably proud.”