Sustainability

 

The Villiers award winning Eco Committee

Villiers High School began its journey to becoming a Green Flag Eco School through the creation of the Villiers Eco Committee. They have since achieved the Bronze, Silver and Green Flag Award status for Villiers. This is how they did it:

 

One of the ten environmental topics that our students were empowered to improve was Healthy Living. We met with our canteen manager to improve the snacks provided at lunch, paying attention to palm oil avoidance. The Eco Committee hosted successful Eco-Days once a term in our school in which outdoor learning was greatly encouraged, and students brought healthy food for a picnic on the school football field. Teachers also contributed to reducing our schools carbon footprint by switching off projectors for the full day. The energy savings were great – we achieved a saving of £78.84. If attempted this saving across 5 days and two full terms, the approximate saving would be £10,249.20, which is enough to buy 3 LED Screens and 3 PCs!

The Eco Committee also educated students on the benefits of cycling or walking to school where possible. We then took our message to our local community by organising an ‘Area Clean-Up’ project in Southall Town. Our students worked hard and collected 14 bags of litter in one hour!

 

Our school motto, ‘For life, not school, we learn,’ inspired our Eco Committee to address the school body in assemblies, form rooms, and even the staff room to advise on strategies to become even more environmentally conscience in everyday life. We then spread the message even further by liaising with the geography department to create a giant mural dedicated to preventing plastic pollution, which our students walk by and see every day. In our schools Outstanding Ofsted report, Villiers was praised for ‘giving pupils strong support to develop healthy lifestyles and good mental health.’ We aim to continue and build opportunities for this within our planning of Eco-Days.

 

Our students were so proud to have achieved the Bronze, Silver and Green Flag Award status for Villiers within one academic year. It is a real testament to the impactful changes the Eco Committee has implemented so far, and the resilience and tenacity our students will continue to show in the future. For this year’s Eco-Projects we hope to connect even more with the local community, so we can inspire as many people as possible to join the journey of living a healthy lifestyle and protecting our environment.’’

 

Within one academic year, they have achieved the Bronze, Silver and Green Flag Award status for Villiers. We are so proud of them and Ofsted praised Villiers in their May report for ‘giving pupils strong support to develop healthy lifestyles and good mental health’.