Eco Schools
🐦The Eco Committee would like to encourage you to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest garden wildlife survey. All you need to do is spend an hour watching the birds in your garden between the 26-28th January, record the birds that land and send your information to the RSPB. 🍃
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2024
To help encourage birds to your garden during these winter days, here are some top tips on to how to look after birds in the colder months.
TIP 1: GIVE THEM A FEAST 🌱 Birds need energy to stay warm and food gives them that. Create a bird feeder out of any kitchen scraps, grated cheese, bruised fruit, dry porridge oats, cooked rice. This will help our birds stay healthy.
TIP 2: GIVE THEM SOME HYDRATION 🌊 Birds need fresh water to drink and to wash in all year. Help them and pop up a little bird bath in your garden. Fill it with fresh water every day and you will be providing the birds with some comfort.
TIP 3: BUILD THEM A HOME 🏚️ Like us, birds feel the cold. Nestling a little bird box (or a big one) in between growing plants and trees can provide warmth to their cold bodies.
Hopefully, now you can help all different types of bird from your very own back garden. If they don't appear straight away, don't worry, just keep trying!
Bury Grammar is proud to be an Eco School
Our eco pledge
Four and a half centuries of education demonstrate that we know a thing or two about sustainability.
As we turn to look towards our future, we are faced with an ever more uncertain and changing world. A world that we absolutely want to be part of in another 450 years. Therefore, we made a promise to commit to a more environmentally sound way of life. A promise that would see us overhaul our School’s infrastructure. A promise, as guardians of such an important institution, to protect our School for generations to come.
OUR STEPS TO SUCCESS
In 2018 Bury Grammar School joined the Eco Schools programme which is an international movement empowering students to make a change in their community.
Our students are encouraged to reflect and review our school environment and create action plans to improve it. They actively work together to achieve their goals and are supported by key members of staff and with other members of our school community to reduce our environmental impact and encourage lifestyle changes to become more eco-friendly.
Working in collaboration with all school stakeholders, we have generated our own Eco Code which we are using to guide and drive our environmental projects and eco-awareness.
Bury Grammar School has been on journey to make our school more environmentally friendly and we were delighted to win the prestigious Independent Schools of the Year Green Award for Environmental Achievement in 2019 and to be recognised as a Green Flag eco school for our environmental efforts and progress in 2020. In 2022 and 2023 we were delighted to be awarded Eco Schools Green Flag status with distinction!
OUR ECO CODE
The Eco code is a guide which we have shared with pupils and staff, representatives from our parent body, Governors and alumni as well as our neighbours and others in our community who are also committed to ecology and sustainability. We hope that together we can make a difference.
In order to achieve our goals, we use the curriculum, assemblies and presentations to educate our pupils and we have an established Eco Committee which provides opportunities for pupils to showcase their thoughts, ideas and actions. Pupils and staff get together weekly in Key Stage groups and clubs to work on specific eco projects which include a range of themes including energy, litter and biodiversity.
Biodiversity
During the Spring and Summer terms of 2022 we have taken part in a national effort to support pollinators by designating areas around our school estate as 'No Mow’ or ‘Low Mow Zones'. Pupils have been working in the school garden this year and have planted lots of insect friendly plants and new bug house was built using spare pallets and wood.
Litter
Pupils have been taking part in a weekly litter picks around the school grounds and have learnt about the danger litter poses to local wildlife.
Energy
Throughout BGS we have aimed to reduce our energy consumption through projects that include encouraging everyone to switch of lights and computer equipment when not in use. Additionally we have continued to install LED lighting, upgraded boilers, installed BMS (building management system software) and continued to insulate our buildings and roofs. We are delighted to have reduced energy consumption by 20% year on year.
ECO CHANGES MADE
Planted 700 Trees
Worked with the Environment Agency to plant 700 trees and hedgerow plants around our estate
Impact - when fully grown these trees will absorb 14,700 tonnes of C02 per year
Changed waste supplier
All our waste is sorted at the supplier’s depot; 100% of our waste is recycled in the UK
Green Energy
The school switched to Green Energy
Impact - our investment in energy saving equipment and by working together to save energy we've reduced our electricity consumption by 16% per annum
'Go Eco in the Canteen' project
Switched to compostable single use cutlery, eco packaging for salads and sandwiches, paper drinking cups and no plastic drinking bottles
Impact - 250,000 less pieces of single use plastic in 12 months!
LED Lighting
Started to replaced lighting to LED motion sensor activated lights
Energy Consumption Software
Installed software to measure and monitor energy consumption in each part of the school
Forest School
Established a Forest School
New Boilers
Replacement of old inefficient boilers with new efficient ones with building management systems (BMS) on new boilers to improve the efficiency
Leaf Mould Compost Heap
A leaf mould compost heap was established with the help of the Infant school children
Garden & Wildlife Area
In our School gardens, pupils have made planters from recycled plastic bottles and have planted vegetables and flowers to for insects and we’ve got several bug hotels!
New Printers
Installed new printers that are more energy efficient. Software also measures individual usage
Food Waste Recycling
100% of our kitchen food waste is collected by a specialist local contractor who converts food waste into bio-fertiliser (used in organic farming) and green energy. None of our kitchen food waste goes to landfill.
Eco Schools News
Sycamore moth caterpillar - September 2022
This beautiful Sycamore moth caterpillar was found on the wall of the ramp going up to the infant school.
Reception Red had it as a class pet for the afternoon and then returned it to the location it was found.
Pumpkins - September 2022
The KS4 Eco Committee had a surprise when they returned to the BGS garden after the Summer break, to find the plants they had grown from seed had produced eight very large pumpkins.
No Mow Zones - May 2022
The Pollinator Project for 2022, where we try to play our part in a national effort to support pollinators by designating areas around our school estate as 'No Mow’ or ‘Low Mow Zones' is now underway.
You may have seen the ‘No Mow’ signs displayed around the estate.
BGS Garden - June 2022
The school garden is full of activity, with insects, tadpoles in the pond and a pair of visiting ducks.
The pupils and staff have planted pumpkins, potatoes, lavender, herbs and strawberries in the garden with a special patch of the garden given over to wildflowers which we hope will further encourage pollinators.
Bug Hotel - May 2022
The BGS garden has a new bug hotel!
Built from pallets left over from school deliveries and put into place by the Year 10 Eco Committee, it has been filled with spare wood from the garden restoration and offcuts from the CDT department, along with a specially made sign.
We hope to see lots of bugs using the hotel soon!
Kindergarten upcycled car - May 2022
Kindergarten pupils have been enjoying their new upcycled outdoor car.
Infant School - Glove Greenhouse
March 2022
In Infant school this week, we have been making a ‘Glove Greenhouse’. We have planted Nasturtium, Broad beans, Marigold, Cornflower and Pea seeds. Year 2 Green are going to hang their Glove Greenhouses on the windows to see if they grow differently to the ones in the corridor.
Science Week – Hydroponics Station
March 2022
Agriculture is one of the oldest professions in human history and over time new techniques have been utilized to improve farming. This week in science lessons BGS seniors were introduced to Hydroponics, a form of horticulture that involves growing plants, usually crops, without soil, by using water and mineral nutrients.
BGS pupils learned that this method of farming crops will increase food production around the world by allowing farmers to grow thousands of plants in small spaces.
The Queen's Green Canopy - March 2022
We were delighted to receive 10 saplings from "The Queen's Green Canopy" project, an initiative set up to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites organisations from across the UK to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.
The saplings will be planted around our estate by staff and pupils. The photo shows some of our Eco Committee pupils with the saplings.
KS4 Eco Committee Commendations
February 2022
The KS4 Eco Committee have been carrying out some great work in the BGS garden and have recently been awarded commendations for their eco work.
They have some great ideas going forwarded on how to increase biodiversity around the school grounds, alongside their continued work in the garden.
Eco Schools Meeting
31st January 2022
On 31st January 2022 we held our BGS Eco Committee meeting which was attended by over 50 pupils, staff and visitors, which in itself was an achievement - when we started 4 years ago there were 3 of us at the meeting!
We were delighted to welcome representatives from several areas of our BGS community - the Chair of the Old Girls’ Association, a Governor & parent, as well as representatives from Communitree Forest School and our neighbours the East Lancashire Railway and St Gabriel’s RC High School. The meeting was introduced by Mrs Jane Stevens, Director of Finance.
Our Year 6 Eco Warriors and Year 10 Eco Committee gave presentations, showing their eco journey so far and ideas going forward. Pupils are working towards the renewal of the Eco-Schools Green Flag award and this year’s topics are Biodiversity, Energy and Litter.
Communitree, who run our afterschool forest school and holiday camps, gave a presentation showing their work in the community including child-led play, tree planting and sustainability initiatives. The East Lancashire Railway presented their future plans for a plot of unused ground near BGS - the work to turn this plot into a wildlife area will be an exciting collaboration between Bury Grammar School, Communitree and St Gabriel’s RC High School.
The Principal, Mrs Jo Anderson, concluded the meeting and thanked all pupils, staff and visitors for their continuing work to make our corner of the world a more sustainable and eco-friendly area.
Please click here for more archived Eco Schools News
Cross-Curricular Eco Learning Continues
At BGS we continue to embed our Eco work into our curriculum. Here are just a few examples:
ENGLISH:
Year 7 pupils complete an independent topic on environmental issues in the summer term.
Year 10 pupils complete a series of lessons based on the protection of wildlife.
GEOGRAPHY:
Year 8 pupils do a full unit on sustainability and environmental issues.
Modern Foreign Languages:
Pupils from various year groups learn how to discuss environmental issues, say which is the most important to them and how they and their families can help to protect the environment.
PHYSICS:
Renewable and non-renewable sources are studied. This includes consideration of issues such as global warming, conserving resources and environmental impact.
BIOLOGY:
Human impact on the environment and biodiversity as part of both the GCSE and A Level curriculum.