Eco-Schools in an International Award that recognises when schools are making considerable achievements towards being an eco-friendly environment which prepares children to live their future lives with consideration for global issues. We currently have an Eco-Schools Silver Award. 

Westlea Warriors

Our Eco Group, The Westlea Warriors, has representatives from each year group from Year 1 to Year 6. The Westlea Warriors help Westlea Primary School develop as an Eco-School by putting forward their views and the views of the children they represent to help the school become more environmentally aware. They also act as energy monitors ensuring that windows and external doors are closed; that lights and electrical equipment are switched off when the class leaves the room and that taps are not left running in the toilets.

Westlea Warriors Key Achievements:

· Organise Earth Hour each year and introduce it with an assembly for the whole school.

· Regularly carry out environmental audits in classrooms and litter picks around the school grounds.

· Helped to organise an Environmental Impact Day, with the support of OASES, for all children in Year 2 to Year 6. The day included a carousel of activities designed to help children think about the limited resources on Earth and how to use them sustainably.

· Obtained free trees from the Woodland Trust and planned where to plant them to benefit the whole school.

· Provided ideas and input to help us to obtain funding for improvements to the school grounds including a poly tunnel and allotment that are used each week by gardening club.

· Took part in the Citizen Science Project ‘Connecting Schools to Nature in North-East England’, run by the British Ecological Society (BES) in partnership with Durham University.

· Actively working on a Citizen Science Project with the National Education Nature Park programme to map out the different types of vegetation we have in school for publication on the Royal Horticultural Society website. As part of this project, we have successfully applied for a grant to turn our ‘Breakfast Club’ entrance from a grey space to a green space. The Westlea Warriors chose the plants for this space carefully to increase the biodiversity of our school grounds and to support insects like bees, butterflies and moths.

· Successfully obtained funding from Tesco Stronger Starts to buy waterproof clothing so that all children at Westlea Primary School can have access to the outdoor learning that is vital for their health and wellbeing whatever the weather.