Pupils at Gresham’s School achieve Eco-Schools Gold Award

Pupils at Gresham’s, in Holt, have achieved the Eco-Schools Gold Award by increasing environmental awareness throughout the academic year.

‘Team Eco’, a group of pupils who are championing environmental change around the School, created an Eco Week for pupils and staff to get involved in, which helped to raise awareness and generate environmental change.

Each day throughout the week, Team Eco gave a talk in the School’s Chapel to educate their fellow pupils on relevant topics, such as food waste and the importance of sustainability, which has now resulted in a decrease in daily food wastage from plates.

They also delivered the environmentally minded initiatives, taking place during Eco Week, to each Year group. The initiatives included the 'Turn It Off' competition, which challenged pupils to save as much electricity as possible by turning off lights and electrical appliances within the boarding houses.

In total the school saved 146.21 KWh which is approximately £23.80. If continued at this rate, the School could considerably reduce energy consumption and save over £700 per school year. The houses were also tasked with competing to collect the most two litre plastic bottles, in order for them to be used to create a greenhouse.

Pupils had the chance to participate in a scavenger hunt, which tasked them with finding various letters around the school, in places related to being environmentally friendly, such as the Britten Building which has solar panels installed and Farfield House which has newly fitted double glazing windows. Once found, the letters could then be arranged in to a word and pupils were given a steel reusable Gresham’s water bottle after completing all necessary steps.

Environmental change became a priority for Gresham’s in October, when work began to become a Green Flag Award Eco-School. The initiative is designed to take two years, meaning the pupils have done incredibly well to achieve this within seven months.

100% of the School’s electricity now comes from solar power or renewable sources. A wildlife pond has also been introduced with 15 species being recorded in the pond and over 35 species of bird.

The School has also joined the ‘Holt Cup’ scheme, a new initiative championed by a variety of businesses within the town. This will help to encourage the use of reusable cups for hot beverages in the School café.