JDMcDsblog

One initiative that is in my In Tray is “EcoSchools”. As a geographer I am naturally pleased to be involved in helping to take this vital area of the school’s life forward. We already have an EcoSchools committee, made up of pupils from each year group, under the enthusiastic direction of my colleage, Cate Hamilton. First up is a Green Day, to be held on Wednesday 10th October. The Hall will be turned into a continental cafe and various green items will be served; entry is limited to those who wear a green ribbon, which will be on sale that day. At this stage we are working towards gaining a bronze award, with the ultimate goal of achieving a green flag. To gain a bronze award you need to meet the following citeria:

Set up a Committee
Carry out an informal envoronmental review, and plan some actovities that will improve the environmental performance of the school
Devise an Action Plan, with tasks, timescale and personnel identified
Establish ways in which environmental issues are covered across a range of subjects
Set up and maintain an EcoSchool noticeboard
Devise an Eco Code

Cate has set up a blog which will certainly help to raise the profile of our EcoSchool initiatives-I shall put a link to this on to the new Ethos section on the staff intranet. We are also considering putting a “green footer” on all School e-mails. I propose to talk with individaul departments to find out the contexts in which they cover environmental and green themes, and therby make up a summary chart showing current situation and future priorities.
I had an interesting chat with our Head of Technology, Robert Furness, who is currently doing post grad research at the Centre for Alterntative Technology in Wales. Set in Southern Snowdonia, CAT is is one of the world’s most renowned eco-centres, featuring interactive displays and practical examples of sustainable living, renewable energy and organic gardening. It takes a refreshingly positive look at environmental issues and offers practical solutions to help us lessen our impact on the environment.

Robert and I agree that while recycling is an important and necessary first step, there are huge issues in terms of energy efficiency and design which need to be looked at in the future. Of course, we don’t have the luxury of building a new school, so the challenge is to come up with innovative ways of saving energy and being as efficient as possible in our design and behaviour.I think we should look at the possibility of arranging a visit to CAT-must mention this to Cate.
(Incidentally, Robert has an article on “switching from hard wired to microcontroller-based design” published in Autumn 2007 issue of “Electronics Education”) Click here for home page and links to PDF versions of this magazine-Autumn 07 noy yet available online)