A silver eco flag has been awarded to St George’s Catholic Primary School, Warminster.

Children, staff, governors had worked, in and out of lockdown, by targeting ways its community could look after the environment. An eco-committee was established from the year groups and a member of staff, a governor and parent representative.

The school’s staff eco-leader, Andrew Robinson, said: “The project was driven by the pupils themselves. They selected our eco targets and identified the priorities for the school. The children truly care about the environment and the future of our planet. This award is wonderful recognition of the work they have done.”

In 2014, the school successfully campaigned for a zebra crossing outside its site. As part of the latest eco-targets at the school, children wanted to work to reduce fumes produced by cars on the road. Linking with the national drive for children to keep active, St George’s joined the Walk Once a Week travel tracker. The scheme encourages children and their families to find sustainable ways to walk to school instead of using cars.

St George’s received funding from Warminster Town Council and the Friends of St George’s to buy a Ridan Food Bio-Digester. The school started composting all food waste using the bio-digester in November, 2019. St George’s teacher Andrew Robinson, added: “On average, three to four buckets of food are recycled each day. This comes from snacks, school lunches and lunchboxes. Previously, the food would have gone to landfill so this is an amazing contribution to our recycling efforts and adds to the paper recycling collections already established.’

Children at St George’s have regular litter picks around the site as part of the project. Awareness of the damage litter can do to the environment was introduced to classes as part of the National Curriculum. In science, the children learned about the impact different materials have on animals and plants. ‘Respect and love for our world’ is also a strong element of the school’s Catholic ethos.

RE Subject Leader Lauren Fletcher, said: “As stewards of creation, we are always looking at how better to protect and nurture our planet. It is fantastic for the children to be able to see immediate impact from this project.’

Many children have been learning from home but the school has maintained its eco-work. The Government’s “stay-at-home” message enabled the school to share its eco-agenda more widely with families through assemblies explaining the school’s priorities. Meanwhile, in school, the eco targets on site have continued to be a focus.

Headteacher, Kate Saunders, said: “Pupils were excited to be awarded the Silver Eco Award this week. The school has always had an active eco-committee and over the past few years, the school has made strides to make the school more sustainable. The committee hopes to can use the compost to grow vegetables for the school’s kitchen this summer. Congratulations to Mr Robinson and the team.”

The silver eco-flag was awarded by Keep Britain Tidy as part of the national eco-schools programme.

St George’s was also recognised for its work on environmental education during its 2019 Ofsted inspection. The report, written by school inspectors, described how “pupils are delighted with their new composter, which they say helps make the school a better place.”

Andrew Robinson, added: “The eco-schools project is continuing. We have the Green Flag status to aim for now that we have achieved silver. Caring for creation is a key value at St George’s and all members of our community are committed to doing all we can to make the school as eco-friendly as it can be.”