Lean Green Eco Machine

Green Flag application

The term has ended but before it did the Committe met to go through and complete the apllication form for the Green Flag award. We should be assessed sometime in September. We are quietly confident and very hopeful that these pages illustrate we have done enough to get the award. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to getting us this far.

Remember it doesn't all stop if we get the award - we are firmly committed to develop sustainability at Nodehill and make sure the impact that our school has on the environment is as positive as possible.

Going wild!

With the alternate sunshine and rain we are experiencing at the moment, the plants in the new wild area are developing very well. There are already a number of flowers out and attracting insects.

The worm has turned!

This week the new womery has arrived and members of the eco schools club have been assembling it. We have needed to get a wormery because the Green bin in the staff room provides so much waste each week that it has already filled one compost bin!

This photo illustrates the coir going in which provides the worms with moisture and a medium to move around in.

The worms arrived in a sealed bag with moist paper which protects them during their journey and provides some food and moisture - worms need to be moist so that oxygen can pass through their skin and into their blood.

The completed wormery sits next to the compost bin. We have to give the worms a couple of weeks to settle into their new home before adding any green waste but then it will be all systems go. The crates on the left can be added as the wormery fills up and we constantly rotate them as the waste in the bottom one is ready to be used as compost.

Working with Wight Wildlife

This week pupils from 5GB have been working with Mrs Grogan from Wight Wildlife to understand the importance of biodiversity and to enhance the biodiversity of species living in our school grounds.

Insect nests

The pupils made insect habitats from hollowed out willow stems and bamboo canes. Simply tie a bundle together and put them around the garden to provide a habitat to attract insects.

Here is the insect habitat in situ in the school gardens.

Bird feeders

The pupils learned how to make bird feeders to hang around the garden using pine cones and coconut shells. Firstly, use some string to make a hanging device for the coconut or pine cone once you have finished. Next, get some bird seed and meal worms, add fat and mix together. Then fill the coconut shell or gaps in the pine cone with the mix and hang in the garden.

Bat boxes 

Mrs Grogan gave an interesting talk on bats and their behaviour and supplied us with another 4 bat boxes to make up and put in our school grounds.

Bushwhacked!

This week we have started to trim the bushes behind the CID area which have been left for so long that they have started to grow out of control. We are only trimming the bushes back to tidy it up because they will be home to a variety of insects, spiders, slugs, worms, snails - all species we found whilst doing the work. It was thoroughly tiring work and we all felt a little bushwhacked by the end of it!

Before - overgrown

During - hard at work!

 

After - room for the new bird table!

Wild thing!

Last November we developed a link with Simon Morris, a lecturer in horticulture, from the Isle of Wight College who agreed to help us develop a wild garden in the area behind C6 running along Upper St. James Street.

Mr Morris had planted these seedlings up at the college and this week he came in and planted them into the wild area with members of the Eco-schools working group, the Gardening club and Mr Wilkes.

The species planted were Daisy (Bellis perennis), Honesty (Lunaria annua), Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and Golden Rod (Solidago canadensis).

You can see the pattern of the planting in this schematic diagram below:

The British Statue of liberty?

This week we have taken delivery of our new bird table which will adorn the area just behind the CID centre when we have trimmed the existing bushes. Here we can see Mr Wilks recreating the pose which greets sailors as they enter New York harbour!

School Travel Plan annual review

Part of the School Travel Plan programme is an annual review to identify the effect that our strategies are having on sustainable travel to and from school and identify new targets for the coming year. Year 7 maths pupils performed a survey of all pupils in the school to identify the modes of transport used and graphed the data ready for the review. The full file can be accessed by clicking on the link below but the headlines are as follows:

In comparison with last year, the data shows that 31 more pupils walk to school, double the number of pupils cycle (now 16), 28 more use public transport and car use has gone DOWN by 26 pupils. This is obviously excellent news and indicates that we are becoming more sustainable. Also, the survey was done in February at the back end of the wet winter and we think it would be even more positive in the summer months.

If you have any suggestions or comments regards this work or the work we are doing for the Eco-schools project please contact Mr Peace.

To download the full review, please click on this link:

Download nodehill_middle_school_annual_review_may_2007.doc

Do the Can-can!

This week we have had to empty the can recycling bins as they are full! We didn't count how many cans there were but estimates are well over a hundred. These cans will now be collected by Haylands Farm as part of the Alupro 'Trees for Africa, trees for the UK' campaign.

Biodiversity 2006-2007

Amazon World

We started the Summer Term in fine form as the girls from Amazon World came in to present an assemby on biodiversity and sustainability. They brought with them an armadillo called Pedro who, despite his interesting smell proved a hit with even the year 8 boys. The talk was very informative and covered climate change and endangered species and what the pupils could do to make a small difference themselves.

Developing the school grounds

Over the last 2 years we have done some work on biodiversity, ensuring that we do not use chemical pesticides and herbicides in the school grounds and developing the patio areas with planters and hanging baskets to provide flowers.

However, the bulk of our work has been in the planning all year and throughout this term will come to fruition as we develop the school grounds further working with Wight Wildlife and the Isle of Wight College to provide a wild area with various habitats including butterfly friendly plants and a log pile, bird and bat boxes for nesting around the school and a new bird table.