Details on the free waste education programme that is delivered by our Education Officers in secondary schools.
Initial meeting
If your school is interested in the Schools Waste Action Club (SWAC) programme, an Education Officer will visit for an initial meeting. This may be an opportunity to offer advice and support in extending a recycling system beyond the office into classroom areas for example.
Sessions with pupils
Alternatively, the focus may be to plan/organise a series of pupil sessions to link with a curriculum area or enrichment day etc. The SWAC officers primarily work with year seven or year eight pupils but have worked with older students on Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) or E2E programmes. The sessions cover:
Assembly
The concept of how the price tag of familiar products can mask further hidden costs to our environment is explored, before the practical solutions of the 3Rs are considered.
What’s wrong with my compost?
Pupils recap what ingredients/conditions are needed to make compost successfully before examining some samples of ‘problem’ compost. Pupils undertake simple tests before offering some troubleshooting advice.
Making a wormery
Pupils learn about how ‘composting worms’ process or recycle organic waste and observe how the design features of a wormery make it a good environment for these creatures. Pupils, in small groups, then use a selection of waste material to construct a temporary wormery, bearing these issues in mind, and self evaluate its effectiveness.
Packaging
Pupils consider the environmental impact of packaging and evaluate the eco credentials of different forms of packaging used for drinks. They explore the consequences of discarded packaging and finish by re-designing drinks labels to encourage consumers to re use and/or recycle the containers.
Making Recycled Paper – Mini Enterprise
Pupils explore how artists and craftspeople have used waste paper as a creative medium Pupils are then shown how to recycle their own waste paper and are given suggestions as to how to create an artefact which could be used in a mini-enterprise project.
Rubbish Relay
A game, requiring hall space, designed to test your ‘Bin Smart’ knowledge. Pupils are divided into four teams and are presented with a bag of model rubbish. Pupils must select one item at a time and decide whether it could be donated to charity, composted, recycled or disposed of. Prizes of recycled stationery are awarded to teams with a winning or improved score.
Additional Activities
From time to time we run competitions or special events to raise awareness of the three Rs, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
In April 2009, MOMO, a touring theatre company based in Oxford, delivered their amazing recycling shows to over 2000 year seven and/or year eight pupils in eight different secondary schools across the county. The performance used a sophisticated blend of slapstick humour and real facts to communicate serious messages and was met with some very positive feedback.
“The whole performance was absolutely fantastic! The pupils’ response was brilliant. In all my years of teaching and particularly at this school, I have never witnessed so many hands go up to volunteer to get up on stage and get involved. The pupils were still buzzing about the event two days later and many have said it’s the best thing they have ever seen in school!” Samworth Church Academy, Mansfield.
Look out for details of how to get involved in forthcoming events through our SWAC newsletters.
