Eco School

Echline Primary school is a large, suburban primary school with 322 pupils located near Edinburgh. In June 2004, the school achieved a first Eco Schools Green Flag.

The Eco-Schools programme provides a simple framework to enable your school to analyse its operations and become more sustainable.The entire school and local community have become involved in the Eco School.

All seven eco-topics: Litter; Waste Minimisation; Water; Energy; School Grounds; Health & Well-Being; and Transport are covered by individual class groups, from primary 2 to 7, each one focusing on a particular topic.

A depute headteacher and 12 class teachers sit on the school’s eco committee, along with 15 pupil members, the janitor and a community member. Pupils are elected onto the committee by their peers.

The Eco Schools work is displayed throughout the school, in curriculum planning and right across year groups.  The school is also focussing much effort upon waste minimisation, with recycling of paper, ink cartridges, mobile phones, cardboard and cans taking place indoors and composting outdoors. Waste minimisation messages are also exhibited widely throughout the school.

The school is also actively promoting energy reduction and has a proactive programme of energy monitoring and minimisation. (Including investigation into renewables).

Health and well being is another facet of the eco-schools agenda that pupils are asked to look at, including healthy eating and using more sustainable modes of transport- particularly walking and cycling.

Benefits of Involvement

The direct benefits felt by the school from their involvement in the Eco Schools programme include:

  • Financial: the school is conscious of reducing consumption of resources such as energy and paper.
  • Morale: the programme has brought pupils and staff closer together; an enhanced environment; sense of pride and ownership; and improved links with the wider community.
  • Curricular benefits in terms of maths; language; expressive arts environmental studies; health; and enterprise (focus for whole range of challenges)
  • Citizenship.