eco school

The Skinners' School is working on a number of projects relating to the theme of sustainability. To find out more then click on the links below  and also click here for further details of school projects. The EcoSchools contact at Skinners' is: Mark Moody - markmoody@skinners-school.org.uk
LATEST NEWS
At the time of writing (Spring 2012) there are 15 ‘Ambassador Schools’– the top award for sustainable schools in the country - but out of these, Skinners’ seems to be still the only secondary school in the bunch, the others are primary or middle schools. As a result, we are much in demand to give presentations and advice to other aspiring schools, or to receive visitors keen to pick up some tips they can take back and implement at their own places. Below is a snapshot of some of the work we have been doing this term: Eco Schools Conference #1 – Leicester, February 2012 Our Y11 and 12 STEM Ambassadors, accompanied by Mr Moody, were invited by Eco Schools and the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign to give a key-note speech at the national conference in Leicester. After an early morning train from Tunbridge Wells, we got to Leicester mid-morning and managed to hear presentations from the other speakers about how to network with the local community. It was our turn after lunch - we gave a presentation to delegates about our recent work on ‘Closed Loop’ projects, and showed pictures of the practical work we have been doing on sustainability, such as the Iron Age Hut at Oakley, Solar Car Racing at primary schools, and the HEAL garden irrigation system. The boys spoke really well, and the feedback from delegates was excellent - hopefully they all went back to their schools with practical ideas they can replicate for themselves. Eco Schools Conference #2 – Bristol, March 2012 Following on from our success at Leicester, Eco-Schools then asked us to repeat the presentation to teachers from the South West at the Bristol Conference. Mr Lennon took the STEM Ambassadors on this one, and again, the feedback from all who heard them was overwhelmingly positive. The boys who represented us on these two occasions were Ben Breathwick, Tom Cloke, Dan Ingman, Carl Thomas and Owen Miller, and all were a credit to their school.   Skinners’ School achieves 3rd Green Flag and the coveted ‘Eco School’ Green Flag Ambassador status. Skinners’ are now the proud holders of our 3rd Eco School Green Flag for the work we continue to do both in and out of school to promote sustainability. Because of our excellent track record in this area we were then invited by Eco Schools to apply for ‘Ambassador Status’ – which means that other schools will be able to contact us and hopefully learn how to do similar things back at their own school. An assessor form ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ spent the best part of a day being shown around the school by Y10 pupils from our ‘Sustainable STEM’ team, and also talked to members of teaching staff and support staff about our school ethos, and how we have managed to ‘Green the Teens’. We heard the following day that we had been awarded Ambassador status, and thus became the first secondary school in the country to hold such an award – a fantastic achievement by all concerned.
Skinners' Eco-Team win the Teaching Award 'Plato' for Best Sustainable School - South East 2009. Click the picture to find out more.	2009 Finalist at the national TES Awards - Outstanding Sustainable School of the Year
Read the latest Schools Sustainable Network case study guide (January 2009) - the 'timeline' of Skinners' ESD work is featured on pages 5 and 62-63.	Skinners' was first awarded 'Green Flag' status in February 2008 and was redesignated in January 2010 - click on the link above to discover more about the Eco Schools programme