Caring Eastwood pupils help to make the world a greener place on Earth Day

Students at an Eastwood primary school pitched in to help make their community more eco-friendly as they celebrated this year’s Earth Day.
Members of the eco-committee at Lawrence View Primary School.Members of the eco-committee at Lawrence View Primary School.
Members of the eco-committee at Lawrence View Primary School.

Pupils on the eco-committee at Lawrence View Primary School organised a whole school celebration for the annual event last Friday (April 22).

To raise awareness of the day, students went to school wearing green for the Earth, blue for the ocean or dressed as an animal.

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The children voted to raise money for #TeamSeas, a charity which clears plastic from the world’s oceans and beaches, and raised a grand total of £100.

Pupils collected more than 1,000 crisp packets, which will be turned into blankets for homeless people.Pupils collected more than 1,000 crisp packets, which will be turned into blankets for homeless people.
Pupils collected more than 1,000 crisp packets, which will be turned into blankets for homeless people.

The eco-committee also worked alongside the school cook, Mrs Dixon, to plan a ‘planet-friendly’ dinner menu and organised a second-hand uniform swap-shop on the playground.

Throughout the day, each class had a slot to develop the outdoor wildlife area at school. Activities included scattering seeds, planting herbs and fruit trees, building a bug hotel, making bird feeders and litter picking.

Pupils also counted up the crisp packets they have been collecting since January.

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So far Lawrence View has reached a huge total of 1,044 crisp packets, which will be sent to The Crisp Packet Project – a charity which makes thermal blankets for homeless people out of the packets instead of sending them to landfill.

A second-hand school uniform swap shop was set up in the playground.A second-hand school uniform swap shop was set up in the playground.
A second-hand school uniform swap shop was set up in the playground.

Annie Ratcliffe, year five teacher and geography and eco-schools lead, said: “I am so proud of the hard work and commitment that the children have put into achieving their eco targets and for organising such a fantastic Earth Day for the whole school to enjoy.

“It is such important work that the children are doing and the Eco-Schools programme has helped to develop environmentally conscious pupils who will lead the way in helping the future of the planet for generations to come.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to B&Q Eastwood who helped select and provide a fantastic discount for our plants for our wildlife garden and thank you also to Peacocks Nursery in Heanor, who provided a discount on our fruit trees.”

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The child-led eco-committee has 13 members, made up of two children from each year group and four members of staff.

Students worked alongside school cook Mrs Dixon to plan a ‘planet-friendly’ dinner menu.Students worked alongside school cook Mrs Dixon to plan a ‘planet-friendly’ dinner menu.
Students worked alongside school cook Mrs Dixon to plan a ‘planet-friendly’ dinner menu.

The committee sets targets at the beginning of the year based on an environmental review of the school grounds and meets every few weeks to discuss progress.

The chair of the committee is year five pupil Amiee, who said: “We need to look after our planet because we only have one so it is important that we all work together to care for it.”

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