St Wilfrid’s CE Primary School ‘Eco Warriors’ are a group of highly passionate primary school children who are working to create a greener Northenden by encouraging both the school and wider community to be more environmentally aware.
Location: Northenden, Manchester
The Eco Warriors first mission was to tidy up the local area and encourage recycling. The group applied for funding and purchased recycling bins for the school as well as litter pickers, which are used to clean up the local area and continuously used around school grounds.
The group took part in The Great British Clean Up, where they spent two days in the community tidying up – this included a local green space called Rose Hill Woods, a riverside park and the local streets. Local residents came out to greet the group and congratulated them for their hard work.
The group lead by example on how to live sustainability and the importance of this. Some members have spoken to other school councils in a local gathering called the Pupil Parliament and changes have made changes to their own lifestyles, including banning plastic from their birthday party.
As a group, they have presented to the school’s local governing body highlighting the importance of sustainability and their passion and aspirations to make this a reality. Children have then spread this message to parents, carers and governors at home and the recycling culture around school has grown.
A student representative from St Wilfrid’s Eco Group, said:
Our eco group is amazing! We have improved the school in so many ways. We have taught the school about why it is so important to respect our environment and to make eco-friendly choices, because it reduces our carbon footprint. We have bought new recycling bins for each space across school and taught everyone how to use them. We also recycle batteries and even crisp packets with one of our school neighbours. We have made a big impact on the environment already by banning single use plastic bottles and only allowing reusable ones, which every child in school received from us. Our eco group is so important because it teaches the rest of the school and the staff to make better choices and to consider our futures!
