Green light for schools to enter eco awards

The KM Charity Team, in partnership with Golding Homes, have organised the Green School Awards to celebrate schools’ environmental achievements - from initiatives teaching pupils about nature or recycling all the way through to encouraging families to walk to school.

Green School Awards 2018 from Inspire Schools on Vimeo.

The deadline for nominations is Friday 7 December and anyone associated with a school can submit an entry including teachers, support staff, governors, volunteers and parents.

Winning schools will receive a trophy and framed certificate; and details of their work will be featured in a best practice booklet sent to every school in the county. They will also be able to display the Green School Awards logo as a mark of excellence on the school website, in brochures, newsletters and elsewhere within the school.

Last year’s winners included St John’s CE Primary School in Maidstone - who were crowned overall recycling champion for their campaign to repair and reuse old, unwanted bicycles.

Sandown School in Dover took the overall green champion award for projects including a green zone for outdoor learning, hedgehog habitat and gardening club; plus a Big Soup Share made from produce pupils had grown.

The 2018 overall eco travel champion accolade went to Aylesford Primary School for their Smarter Journeys Programme - a series of fun challenges to give Year 6 pupils the skills and confidence to cycle to Secondary school.

Entries over the years have varied enormously and have included much-loved ‘lollipop’ ladies and gents; a beekeeping club, litter picking groups, projects to reduce food waste; and creative ways of maintaining interest and participation in schools’ walk to school schemes.

KM Charity Team chief executive, Simon Dolby, said: “If your school hasn’t entered yet then please come forward! We are always really impressed by the standard of nominations and sometimes you just read things that make you say ‘Wow, how did they think of that?’”

He continued: “But equally, these awards are about rewarding simple efforts that make a difference to the community. At one school, pupils collected huge amounts of litter which had been dropped in nearby woodland and took it back to school to recycle it. That is such a straightforward thing to do, but it is transformative for everyone who visits that woodland and an important lesson in our impact on the environment.”

The Green School Awards 2019 will reward efforts in the following areas:

• green travel to school and road safety
• air pollution
• recycling and sustainability
• nature and energy conservation.

Winning schools will be presented with their accolades in February at a ceremony staged at Ashford International Hotel.

For more information, or to enter by 7 December, visit the Green School Awards website

Contact Details

Karen Brinkman
Telephone: 08442 640291
Email: kbrinkman@thekmgroup.co.uk