Leek First School were delighted to receive their Plastic Free School Award recently – the first in Leek!
Plastic Free Schools is a nationwide movement, part of the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Communities. Plastic Free Schools sets out to eradicate single-use plastic from our environment. It helps pupils understand the issues with plastic in the environment and teaches them to spot single-use items, question whether we need them and replace them with something better.
I was delighted to help the children from Leek First, some as young as 5, who have put in months of hard work in order to win this award. Some of the things they have done are carrying out an audit of all the single use plastics in the school, taking part in litter picks (and discovering that most of what they found was plastic) and writing to the Prime Minister to tell him how concerned they are about plastic pollution and what the government are doing about it.
I have also been working with Beresford First School and am planning to work with St Edwards Middle School this year, teaching the adults of the future that there are alternatives to single-use plastics.
Well done Leek First!
Sally Perry