The Eco-Committee visit Year 8 form classes and explain who the Eco-Committee are and what they do for Lisneal College. The interested pupils complete an application form in Year 8. The application forms or letters are read by the Eco-Committee at a meeting. The student is then invited to join the Eco-Committee.
The Eco-Committee have different members of staff involved in planning their activities:
Miss R Mitchell – Teacher in charge of Eco-Committee
Mrs N Mullan – Head of Geography Department and on Board of Governors
Miss L Henderson – Head of Horticulture
Mr M Doherty – Caretaker
Mr M Allen – Headmaster
The following members of staff help out with Eco-Committee activities:
Mr W Taylor – Teacher of ICT and Duke of Edinburgh Co-Ordinator
Mr R Baird – Technology Technician
Mrs L Douglas – Teacher of Art and Design
Ms H Bradley – Substitute Teacher
Ms L Alexander – Secretary
Mr Martin – Social Media
The Eco-Committee meet every Monday at breaktime to discuss their ideas and work on activities. The Eco-Committee stay after-school on a Friday, once a month, and when activities cannot happen after-school, they complete them on Saturdays.
Environmental Review
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These are suggested links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more ideas and information visit our website. |
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Pupils can find the answers themselves by looking carefully around the school. |
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Pupils may need to ask an adult to find the answers to these questions. |
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A little bit more investigation is required, maybe a survey or asking questions to other pupils. |
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This is a way of measuring the impact that you are having on the environment so you can show how much you are improving. This is an important part of being an Eco-School. |
Environmental Review
Biodiversity
| Does the school have trees in the grounds? |
Yes | No |
| Does the school have more hedging than fencing around the parameter? |
Yes | No |
| Are some of your trees and hedging native species? |
Yes | No |
| Does your school have a pond or marshy area? |
Yes | No |
| Does your pond have an exit route for frogs, toads, newts and hedgehogs? |
Yes | No |
| Does your school have a wildflower meadow? |
Yes | No |
| Does your school have areas of long/undisturbed vegetation linking habitats together? |
Yes | No |
| Does your school have any of the following aids to biodiversity?
Log pile Stone pile Minibeast hotel Scented flowers/herbs Butterfly bushes Bird feeders Water for birds Bird boxes Bat boxes Swift houses Bee homes Hedgehog House Hedgehog passages (i.e. under/through fencing) |
Yes | No |
| Are the school grounds free from herbicides and pesticides? |
Yes | No |
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Do you always use peat-free compost? |
Yes | No |
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Have you carried out a biodiversity survey of your school grounds? |
Yes | No |
Climate Change
| Do pupils understand the difference between weather and climate? | Yes | No |
| Is there an understanding of the contributing factors to climate change i.e. the use of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?
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Yes | No |
| Do some subjects study the effects of climate change on different people and wildlife around the world? | Yes | No |
| Do pupils understand their carbon footprint and know ways to reduce it? | Yes | No |
| Which of these things do you do to reduce the school’s carbon footprint:
Walk/cycle/take the bus to school Recycle all the waste you can Save energy Use less plastic and paper |
Yes | No |
| Do you measure any of the above actions you have taken? | Yes | No |
| If yes, have you used an online carbon calculator to see how much carbon you are saving? Hint one is available in the Eco-Schools Resource Library.
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Yes | No |
| Have pupils lobbied their local politicians on the issues of climate change and local solutions? | Yes | No |
Biodiversity
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Biodiversity
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Monitoring and Evaluation
After the Eco-Committee complete an activity, they collate all the information about it and record details and data. If there is quantitative data available from the activity the Eco-Committee then create visuals and graphs from the data. They analyse their strengths and weaknesses and decide whether it is a worthwhile activity. They then decide if it is something that they would like to complete again.
The Eco-Committee raise awareness of the progress being made through discussion during form time. The Eco-Committee visit different form classes at different times to discuss their activities and explain the rationale behind them. The Eco-Committee have also completed assemblies to inform the whole school of their activities.
Each student in Year 8 at Lisneal College was provided with a reusable water bottle from Northern Ireland Water
All the students were happy with their water bottle. Over 200 students were provided with a reusable water bottle. Most of these students said that they would have bought a water a day. This meant that over 1000 water bottles were being saved from landfill in the week, due to our environmental action. To improve even further, we will aim to campaign to have water refill station somewhere central in the school building.
New recycling bins were delivered and gifted to the top corridor to promote recycling in school
The Eco-Committee delivered new bins to most classrooms in the top corridor. They designed the labels and placed them on the bins before distribution. The green bins are for paper recycling only and the blue bins are for plastic bottle recycling only. There are also red and white bins in the geography store for any teacher or student to recycle ink cartridges and batteries. The students are really adhering to the new recycling bins and often look into them to see how many bottles there are. It is the plan to ensure that most classrooms in the school start to get recycling bins.
Recycling Week Competition
Students across Key Stage 3 were all invited to take part in a ‘recycling week’ competition. The students made projects out of recycled materials and brought them into school. The Eco-Committee and staff members judged the projects and gave certificates and prizes to the winners. This worked really well and encouraged people to take part in our activities.
Students were set a task in Art and Geography to design and explain an image which represents Lisneal College
Students across Key Stage 3 were given the task of creating an image to represent our school. The image was to include ideas around the curriculum, pastoral aspect of school, extracurricular activities, and environment. The Eco-Committee and staff went through about 800 images as every student willingly took part in this competition. The winning four images got a prize for their efforts.
The Eco-Committee along with the Art Department then collated the images and came up with the following design
On the mural in the tree of knowledge, you will see the roots are the areas of learning across our curriculum and the LC7, core values of Lisneal are the stars. The slogan ‘Reach for the Stars’ was chosen because the students have said that it encourages them to do their best and achieve the 7 core values in the process.
The Eco-Committee along with parents and the local community sent in all different coloured bottle tops and they were collected in Miss Mitchell’s room in boxes
The Eco-Committee along with the Technology Department organised the resources and then began to paint it before adding the bottle tops
The Eco-Committee’s mural which is made out of hundreds of coloured bottle tops is now placed in the top corridor, opposite the Eco-Committee’s notice board. Many students, staff and parents have commented on the success of the project, and it is hoped that it will stay there for many years to come.
The finished Bottle Top Mural
Donation Station for Preloved Uniforms
During the first year of the sale, less families made use of the donations. However, through promotion the Eco-Committee helped over 20 families in June 2023. We hope to help even more families in June 2024 through opening at night to facilitate working parents and carers. Thank you to the HE Department who wash and prepare the uniforms for sale.