Rosslyn Park in Aspley, Nottingham became the first school in the city to win the Plastic Clever Schools Award, an initiative set up by the charity Kids Against Plastic. One of the founders, Amy Meek, visited the school as part of a special assembly to thank the children personally for their eco-conscious efforts and celebrate with them as the first school in Nottingham to achieve this award. As a Trust, we are so proud of their achievements and the eco-conscious initiatives our schools take part in year-round, as well as the campaigns running as part of Plastic Free July.
The Eco Warrior children at Rosslyn Park, led by Teaching Assistant Mrs Fazal, are passionate about finding new ways to protect the planet. Every year 25 million tons of plastic are added to the ocean, and as of 2022, every square mile of ocean contains over 45,000 individual pieces of plastic. Scientists estimate that by 2050 there will be 937 million tons of plastic in the ocean, which is more plastic than fish. (Source: Dripfina 2022) Primary schools across the UK are empowering the next generation to face these difficult challenges and to problem-solve for the future of the planet.
The “Plastic Clever” initiative is a three-step programme, first the “inspire” stage empowers teachers and their pupils to learn about the environmental challenges globally with plenty of resources to use in the classroom. Secondly, the “investigate” stage encourages pupils to look for single-use plastics within their school and the final “act” stage is when the staff and pupils swap out their single-use plastics for good. For Rosslyn Park, they investigated how much waste was generated at lunchtime through plastic plates, cutlery and wrappers that are un-recyclable. The children then presented their solutions including cutlery alternatives, recyclable plates and eco-conscious ways to pack their lunch if bringing any food into school from home.
Mrs Fazal, Teaching Assistant and Rosslyn Park’s Eco-Lead said:
“We are so proud of everything our children are doing to truly make Rosslyn Park more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Their letters to the headteacher have resulted in metal cutlery being used instead of plastic, a vegan option on the menu and reusable ice packs in our first aid box. It is so empowering for our children to persuade the leaders of our school and see the changes for themselves in their day-to-day lives. I also want to thank Amy from Plastic Clever for taking the time out to visit us and for recognising our children’s commitment and hard work. As the first school in Nottingham to achieve this award we hope to inspire many more schools to come on this eco-journey”
Amy Meek, founder of Kids Against Plastic added:
“We are so proud and excited to see the excellent work that Rosslyn Park have been doing to make their school environment more sustainable. The Eco Warriors have been working hard to help the planet in so many areas, and it’s been so inspiring to see what they’ve achieved when it comes to their plastic waste. They’re very deserving of the Plastic Clever award, and we can’t wait to see their next actions!”
To keep up to date with Rosslyn Park and the eco-conscious efforts of the children across Nottinghamshire you can visit their website. We look forward to seeing what our schools achieve as part of Plastic Free July and beyond.