Eco Schools
At Kings Road, we are committed to being as environmentally responsible, we have recently been awarded a prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag by the environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
The Eco-Schools Programme is the world’s largest Environmental Education programme and aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of a school. Its participatory approach and combination of learning and action makes it an ideal way for schools to begin improving the environments of schools and their local communities.
Eco-Schools work through a simple seven-step process resulting in the programme becoming central to the school's ethos. Schools can choose from eleven eco-topics ranging from litter and waste to energy, biodiversity and transport to name a few. Eco-Schools work towards achieving awards - bronze, silver and the prestigious Green Flag.
The internationally recognised Green Flag is the highest award given to Eco-Schools and symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity.
The International Eco-Schools Programme is operated in Northern Ireland by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and is a free to enter programme. Please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org for further information.
Outdoor learning plays a hugely important role in our Nursery Curriculum, and we take great care to develop and protect our Nursery garden as well as the wildlife that live there. Our Eco School work ties in brilliantly with the Forest School sessions we run each week, and we find these sessions really 'bring to life' the importance of the Eco School principles.
Every child is a member of our 'Eco Committee' and we aim to involve Parents/Carers as much as possible too. The staff lead regular 'eco meetings with the children and from these meetings, we decides on our action plan for the year ahead. The children also help to determine an Eco-Code for our school.
We also have two weekly 'Nature Helpers' per class, who carry out out helpful jobs in nursery to promote recycling and looking after our outdoor environment. The Nature Helpers will get to wear a special badge for the week…and are always very proud of this important responsibility!
Finally, we work closely with outside agencies to enhance our Eco School message. Belfast City Council pay regular visits, and talk to the children about keeping our community tidy and litter free. We have also enjoyed visits from NI Water, who gave the children a simple interactive talk on water efficiency. Our textile recycling bin has been a huge success, thanks to Cookstown Textile Recyclers. These collaborations have been a huge success with enhancing and developing the children's understanding of what it is to be an 'Eco School'.
