As a school we have been determined to make small but meaningful changes on a regular basis to improve our impact on the planet. The GDST, of which we are proud to be a part, has also pledged its commitment through its mantra for sustainability: One World, One Future, One Chance.
“There are pupil ‘eco warriors’ throughout the school” commended ISI. It is simply no longer possible to ignore the human impact on our planet and as a school community we have been changing habitats and awareness raising for years. The lonely, underused recycling bin of yesterday has been replaced with embedded environmental awareness. Pupils continually challenge us to do better – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle were joined by Refuse, Repair, Rethink as we moved beyond simply Meat Free Mondays toward broader vegan and vegetarian daily menus, learnt to “make do and mend” and buy locally, seasonally or second-hand.
What is truly special is what the girls do to keep environmental issues at the forefront of daily life. From the bug hotel at Prep School to ‘Waste not, Want not’ food waste challenges and requests for additional bike racks at Senior School as ‘thoughtful travel’ is promoted, as well as pupil-led assemblies on coral reef damage, the ethical dilemma of fast fashion and how not to contaminate your recycling!
Aided by our Sustainability Lead, pupils lead eco initiatives and the whole school community understands the actions needed to promote sustainability and reduce our impact on the planet. Prep and Senior School Eco Prefects lead their respective Eco Councils, developing new ideas to further strengthen the environmentally-friendly existence of the school, including writing and delivering PSHE sessions on eco friendly make-up at Senior School, whilst at Prep pupils are preparing to plant new beds as part of a community garden in the local area. Pupil-made signs appeared above light switches reminding us to reduce our energy consumption, ‘no idling’ signs were requested for outside school, pupils signed eco petitions and sent them to the Prime Minister and local MPs. In addition, “new to you” clothing swaps recycled unwanted clothes, our year 12 Young Enterprise teams created award-winning eco friendly products, and pupils asked us to no longer print prospectuses, swapping our prospective pupil giveaways for seed packets.
Sustainability is a priority for our in-house caterers who prepare seasonal meals from scratch using fresh ingredients from local and regional suppliers, recycle food waste and use biodegradable food wrappers. The Gardening Club, in our Eco Zone allotment, is ever-popular, as pupils learn about the journey of food and the importance of seasonal recipes.
Environmental awareness is also evident in academic endeavours, with environmental topics chosen for 30% of projects created by younger pupils as part of our independent research project, the Socrates Programme, as well as the top end of the school seeing several A Level artists and EPQ students considering environmental impact within their projects. The most recent speaker in our termly Lecture Series was a Climate Change Consultant, and alumna, who was delighted by the flood of questions from our engaged eco activists!
We are proud to have achieved the Eco Schools highest accolade, the Green Flag Award as well as being one of the first GDST schools to achieve the eduCCate Global Bronze Award for our work in this area, a testament to the passion of eco warrior pupils who continue to hold us accountable and drive forward change.
