Girl in a classroom at Prep Class At St Mary's Colchester in Essex

Senior School Eco Week

8 November 2019

Monday 4 November saw the launch of the Senior School’s annual Eco Week organised by our Eco Schools Co-ordinator Mrs Wilding.

The students and staff have been enjoying eco themed lunches this week, including ‘vegetarian day’ and ‘local produce day’ which has encouraged everyone to think about food waste, how far our food has travelled and the importance of where we source our food from.

Our Year 7 students worked alongside Essex Wildlife Trust in school on Monday for our annual Biodiversity Study, logging the flora and fauna and insects on the school campus. Tuesday was ‘Wear it Again’ Day, highlighting the issues surrounding ‘fast fashion’. with students wearing something that they had either worn at least 30 times, something old that had been have borrowed (vintage) or an item of clothing that has been upcycled or purchased from a charity shop.

On Friday the Year 9 girls worked alongside Year 9 students from Colchester Academy with The Smallpeice Trust taking part in a STEM workshop, exploring a number of eco topics such as renewable energy and water conservation. In teams, the students designed and built a waterproof collection tank with a built-in filter. They assembled and soldered an electronic water-detector and made a circuit for an electric pump to detect and then pump the water which has been collected. The workshop created a real buzz amongst the students, they all worked together brilliantly to make their final models.

Eco pledge footprints were displayed throughout the week, students and staff had some terrific ideas such as promising to use public transport more often, litter picking initiatives, being mindful with water usage and to eat less meat and more local, seasonal produce!

The Eco Team have set each form a challenge of making a hat from recyclable materials, based around the theme of Bonfire Night. The creations will be modelled in assembly on Thursday 14 November.

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