Tips on making school more eco-friendly were offered by members of the student Eco Team from St Mary’s School, Colchester as part of Colchester Borough Council’s ‘Building Resilient Communities’ conference, held at the Mercury Theatre on 11 November.
Ambassador Eco-School St Mary’s partnered the Council to run the event, which attracted hundreds of delegates from the public and private sectors across the region and covered a variety of topics aimed at improving sustainability in the community.
The Education Workshop was run by representatives of St Mary’s Eco Team Anna Gerrard (14, of Colchester), Lizzy Godley (14, of Copford Green), Charlotte Harding (16, of Fordham Heath) and Felicity Wall (15, of Chelmsford). The students, along with the school’s Eco Co-ordinator Mrs Sarah Wilding, offered practical advice for any educational organisation wanting to embed environmental topics into the curriculum.
“The Eco Team at St Mary’s are always happy to share good practice with other schools and stakeholders and it was an honour to be asked to take part in the Building Resilient Communities event,” said Mrs Wilding. “I was immensely proud of the four students who presented – they really communicated the importance of environmental awareness and sustainability throughout the school.”
The Building Resilient Communities event coincided with St Mary’s annual Eco Week, which involved all students in the school in projects and activities designed to promote environmental awareness. During the week, Year 7 students conducted a biodiversity study of the school grounds with the help of the Essex Wildlife Trust.
