Surrenden Campus Student Environment Committee Meeting
On Wednesday 16th November 2011, students from the four main educational establishments on the Surrenden campus met to share ideas and experiences.
The meeting was held at Varndean School, where the students visited the 'Quad' and met the chickens that have been living there for a few years. They are looked after by the Eco club. They use shredded paper for bedding and people that clean out the roost get to take the eggs home to eat. They have also been growing vegetables and making all sorts of bug hotels to improve the biodiversity of the area.
The meeting was held in Mr Wadey's classroom. First there was a sharing of experiences and activities already being carried out at the different schools. Varndean started and in addition to the things we have seen in the quad they told us about being part of the Great British Elm experiment where they have planted an elm tree that is thought to be resistant to the disease that has killed so many trees across the country. They are harvesting rainwater off one roof and they have a great energy monitor which means you can see how much electricity the school is using at any moment. Students also have the option to upload homework through a program called Flipper which shows you how many pieces of paper you save by doing so.
The Year 6s from Balfour School told us about how they are growing vegetables and that they have been able to eat them at lunchtime. There are smart lights in their new building which have motion sensors and light monitors in the rest of the school. They have solar panels and special fans which save energy. They have planted lots of trees and there is an 'edible' wall which has chives and other tasty plants growing out of it. They recycle glass, ink cartridges and other items along with composting organic waste. They have a 'Green Day' where they all pay 50p and wear green clothes, the money raised goes towards things like litter pickers.
Stringer reported about the observational bee hives that are in the environment centre, the bug fair trip in October, our crop of potatoes and the raspberries growing outside the centre. All Year 7 students have planted blackthorn trees this year to encourage the Brown Hairstreak butterfly and how we enjoy the sheep coming to graze on the butterfly haven. We also told them about the Solar panels on the roof and how we are still hopeful that the council will be able to put more panels up next year even after the government's change in the Feed-in-Tariff.
Varndean College spoke about the difficulties of running an eco club in a sixth form. They told us about their conservation area and the plans to create another butterfly haven on their ground. They have been planting trees and creating bug hotels. They do recycle paper and cardboard but think a lot more could be done by students there.
Ideas for the future followed on from Balfour's idea to have a 'Green Day' - the committee is proposing that we have a campus-wide 'Green Day' where everyone at all the schools wears green on the same day and raises money for environmental projects on the campus.
There was a really positive atmosphere at the meeting and people are excited about us all working together to improve the Surrenden campus environment for everyone.
Rob Sandercock | Sustainability Coordinator