Sustainability: Inaugural meeting of whole school eco-committee

A very special meeting took place recently of eco-representatives from across the whole school. 

Pupils from Reception to Upper Sixth gathered in the Senior School gallery to share their ideas for making King’s a greener, more sustainable place.

Chaired by Sustainability prefects, Lukas Pold (U6LES) and Dominic Egan (U6BRD), meetings will take place every half-term with the aim of shaping future sustainability plans for the school. 

Mrs Aldridge organised the first meeting and was thrilled with the level of engagement from across the school. 

She said: “We have had separate eco-groups in the different areas of the school for many years but it is so important that we work together to tackle issues of sustainability that affect us all, and that can be addressed by us all.

“Our eco-reps from Willow Lodge, Junior School and Senior School are leading the way in our work towards the Eco-Schools Green Flag and it is wonderful – and vital – that we have come together as one whole-school eco committee to achieve this.”

At the first meeting, important topics such as sustainable travel to and from school, energy efficiency across the whole school site and biodiversity in the school grounds were high on the agenda, and pupils were also keen to discuss the increasing global problem of plastic pollution.

On the theme of reducing energy consumption, all eco-representatives left the meeting with one main action point: to renew efforts to ensure that everyone is “switching off at the end of the day.”

In Senior School, digital noticeboards around school remind teachers and pupils of the importance of turning off lights and computers. In Willow Lodge and Junior School, eco-reps were tasked with leaving Switch-off Squirrel in classrooms and on desks when teachers forgot to turn off computers and lights. 

Sustainability prefect, Lukas Pold (U6LES), thanked everyone for their contributions to the meeting.

He said: “It should give us all great hope that there are so many engaged pupils across the whole school who are interested in issues around sustainability and the environment, and that we all share the same priorities of creating more spaces for wildlife, reducing litter, cutting down our use of single-use plastic, and increasing energy efficiency.”