St Leonard’s Nursery School has become the first nursery or primary school to be awarded a fourth and permanent Green Flag in the Eco School programme.
Permanent Green Flag has been awarded because environmental education is now a central permanently part of life at St. Leonard’s Nursery School.
City Education Leader Cllr Marilyne MacLaren said:
“This is a fantastic achievement for the pupils and for the staff at St Leonard’s. Not only have pupils reduced their school’s impact on the environment, they are setting a fine example for others to follow and they have learned good habits that will last them a lifetime.”
Clare McCusker, Head Teacher at St Leonard’s, said:
“Our children live the message of reduce, reuse and recycle in their daily routines and at the centre of all their learning is a caring attitude not only to one another but also to the environment. Good habits are established in these early years which will hopefully always stay with children and extend into their families and through the later stages of their education.”
“All of our staff are totally committed to the programme of environmental education. It is their skilled interaction which makes these accessible to young children who begin to understand concepts such as the finite nature of resources and the fragility of our beautiful planet.”
Children have produced award winning compost from leftover snacks, they make their own paper and create masterpieces from various items recycled. Vegetables and plants are grown in the greenhouse and water butts fill healthy pond full of frogs and insect life.
There has been an large increase in biodiversity in the richly planted garden. Bat boxes, bird boxes, insect homes and the pond create an ideal environment for many creatures and children have pond dipping nets, binoculars and magnifying glasses to study changes in the creatures.
