The Edinburgh Academy Junior School

The Eco-Schools programme requires:

The involvement of pupils in a democratic decision-making process and action at every stage, active involvement of staff and the wider school community and a willingness to take action to instigate long-term, sustainable change.

The Eco Committee

The Eco Committee was formed in September 2005 and consists of Lesley Becher, Head of Early Years, Louise Hodgson and Helen Strachan, both current parents. Throughout the year boys and other parents have been co-opted on for a short time. Joan Alexander, our Police co-ordinator and Jamie Pearson from Eco Schools have also made helpful contributions throughout the year.

We have taken forward our plan to extend our learning into our magnificent garden and grounds by creating our outdoor classroom.

We have fabulous resources here at the Edinburgh Academy Junior School but are always looking of ways to improve our facilities to extend our children’s learning.

The wildlife garden

We have identified an area, which we believe would make a super Wildlife Garden. The area was unused and has been cleared of trees, which were becoming problematic. We have drawn up a simple plan and our aim is to involve the children as much as possible.

The area will provide numerous opportunities for outdoor play and learning. The children will also learn a great deal because they will be involved in digging and planting. It will be an ongoing project and the children will be responsible for the care and maintenance of the garden with help from both ground and teaching staff. Children from all ages will be involved and encouraged to be part of this exciting project.

Obviously this garden will attract lots of wildlife and be a pleasant place to relax and reflect. We hope that during the day everyone will have a chance to spend some time in it and it will be open to the whole school community and, we hope, some people from outside. Nearby we have a nursing home and it would be our intention to have visitors from there.

Our design includes many plants, which will attract different birds and insects. There will be numerous beds, some raised and some not. We hope to put in bird boxes and feeders. Garden furniture is also an option we would like to consider. This project will continue to grow over the next few years and so any help with funding would be very much appreciated.

Pupil Work

Enviromental p roject work undertaken in P3 in 2007 produced excellent results. A selection are reproduced below:

Energy - does anybody care?

Charlie Edward

People are producing too much energy. To produce this energy we are using valuable resources from our planet. We need to stop this now or soon our planet will be a big green damp ball of waste. In about 1,000 years there will be no life on earth if we don't stop to think now.

There is a big layer around the earth. This is called the ozone layer. We are producing too many gases and these are thickening the protecting layer around the earth and the sun's rays are being trapped and they are melting the ice caps in the north and south poles. This will cause the sea level to rise and flood the towns and cities.

The way everyone can help is by only using hot water when you need to, watch less TV, use a jumper instead of putting the heating on, keep the lights off. If we all work together to do these things then we will all make out world a better place to live in.

Too much waste

Calum Woodward

People are putting waste in the bin that can be recycled. It is making more litter when we don't recycle things, so we are running out of landfill sites. Landfill sites create leachate that gathers as our rubbish rots and goes through the ground to rivers and then kills all the animals that live in the rivers because leachate is poisonous.

Some people ignore what is happening. The UK produces 434 million tonnes of waste every year. This rate could fill the Albert Hall in less than two hours.

Everyone needs to be encouraged to receycle and compost. Some toys can be given to charity or afriend instead of putting them in the bin. Don't throw out a TV just because it's not the newest flat screen with 1,000 channels. Use the old one until it doesn't work any more. Recycle your aluminium cans and buy reusable nappies. Have a car boot sale.

Carbon Causes Climate Change

Duncan Currie

In the not too distant future the human race could be extinct. So be careful.

This is caused by gas. Cars use lots of CO₂. If a normal care drives across Britain from Land's End to John O'Groats just once it would put out as much CO₂ as the average human beathes in a lifetime.

People use too much water. A dripping tap can use up to 90 litres of water per day. Lots of people keep standby lights on. The TV standby uses 11% of the energy used when your TV is on. We spend £50 million every year on standby in the UK.

But we can stop this disgrace. We can act now. We can buy electric cars. We can switch off electric things completely when we're not using them. So oget that dripping tap fixed for a little wetter future!

Global Disaster Comes Faster

Seoras Russell

CO₂ comes from vehicles and power stations. This causes climate change. More heat is being trapped in the Earth, causing the ice-caps to melt and causing floods.

There are too many cars creating CO₂. People waste too much water. A tap left on for one minute could fill 18 water bottles.

But climate change can be stopped. One idea is to walk instead of driving. Some propose that we should shower instead of habing a bath. Another popular idea is to turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. Turn off your lights when you're not using them.

So can we save the world? Yes we can but we all need to work together. So get on your bike and recycle off!