ECO-SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY - Dumfries and Galloway LEADER€¦ · Eco-Schools with Energy Evaluation 5 • visits to Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools to assist them to undertake

ECO-SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY

Evaluation Report of a Project Led By Solway Heritage

Eco-Schools with Energy Evaluation 2

The Project was funded by:

The Project was managed by:

Solway Heritage 7 Church Crescent

DUMFRIES DG1 1DF

Tel/Fax: 01387 247543 Website: www.solwayheritage.co.uk Email: [email protected]


CONTENTS 1 Background 4

2 Project Summary 6

3 Project Budget 7

4 Activities 8

4.1 Working with School Children 8

4.2 Training Courses 9

4.3 Fluffville Saves Energy 9

4.4 The Litter Project Calendar 10

4.5 Fluffville Films 10

5 Impact on the Community and Feedback 11

6 Lessons Learned and the Future of Eco-Schools with Energy 13

Appendix 1 – Eco-Workshop for parents at Whithorn 14

Appendix 2 – Design Brief for the Litter Project Calendar 15

Appendix 3 – Fluffville Films Secondary School Puppet Project 17


1 BACKGROUND

The Eco-Schools Award Scheme is an international award programme that rewards

environmental management, action and sustainable development education in schools and

educational establishments. It has a participatory and holistic approach with a combination of

learning and action that provides an ideal vehicle for schools to embark on meaningful

improvements to their school environment and local community. It also provides pupils with the

confidence and detailed information on issues to allow them to influence the lives of others,

such as school staff, families, local authorities and other young people.

In Dumfries and Galloway there had been a five year history of organised Eco-Schools

development, managed and led by Solway Heritage, which had greatly impacted on the levels

of awards achieved by schools in the region and the attitudes and knowledge of young people

about the issues facing them with regard to sustainable development. Over those five years

the Eco-Schools Programme had provided support to schools on composting, waste education,

‘Global Footprinting’, cycle skills and ‘Travelling Green’, in addition to Eco-Schools support and

development training. Schools were requesting additional support in the Eco-Schools topic

area of Energy. With the developments in footprinting tools for schools and the new Eco-

Schools topic “Sustaining Our World”, schools were keen to develop energy reduction or even

energy generation projects. In Dumfries and Galloway there was an opportunity to support

schools to develop an innovative project through the network that had been built up over the

past five years. The Eco-Schools Steering Group and Solway Heritage decided to apply for

funding to help the schools to access this specialist support.

The aim of the “Eco-Schools with Energy” project was to provide schools across Dumfries and

Galloway with a support network to reduce energy consumption in schools; give access to

resources and funding streams; and give lessons in schools to assist them to take part in the

“Energy” and “Sustaining Our World” topics of Eco-Schools and the WWF Schools Global

Footprint project. They were also provided with information on local energy projects such as

the gas management system at Lochar Moss which generates energy from the methane gas at

the local landfill site and the solid recovered fuel which is produced at EcoDeco from municipal

waste in the region and used by industrial companies to make energy. These activities were

used to demonstrate and promote a greener lifestyle to children in school and encourage them

to take this message home to their families.

A full time Project Officer was employed to provide a consistent service, based on the Eco-

Schools topics ‘Energy’ and ‘Sustaining our World’, to all schools across Dumfries and

Galloway. This included:

• providing advice and practical solutions to schools to help make changes to their day to day activities to reduce energy consumption.


• visits to Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools to assist them to undertake school energy reviews.

• providing support to schools via a number of medium e.g. telephone, internet, GLOW network, Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Intranet, video conference call etc.

• providing a resource library with appropriate age specific learning tools for schools.

• running teacher Continuing Professional Development training sessions.

• providing schools with information and contacts to enable them to investigate their energy consumption and ways to reduce their energy use.

• undertaking training to ensure the Project Officer keeps up to date with current practices in sustainable development education.

• maintaining an up-to-date website for the Eco-Schools programme.

• providing termly newsletters.

• servicing the Eco-Schools Dumfries and Galloway Steering Group.

• maintaining good relationships with Eco-Schools Scotland (the national parent body).

• liaising with relevant groups and organisations.

• supporting schools with a range of Eco-Schools topics and with their applications to Eco-Schools Scotland for awards.


2 PROJECT SUMMARY

The “Eco-Schools with Energy” project ran from April 2009 to March 2011. The aim of the

project was to provide schools across Dumfries and Galloway with a support network to reduce

energy consumption in schools; give access to resources and funding streams; and give

lessons in schools to assist them to take part in the “Energy” and “Sustaining Our World” topics

of Eco-Schools. Information was also provided on local energy projects. These activities

demonstrated and promoted a greener lifestyle to children in schools and encouraged them to

take this message home to their families.

The project achieved the following outputs and outcomes:

� Over 6,000 children participated in the Energy Roadshow or the Sustaining our World

presentation.

� 91 schools took part in the Energy Roadshow.

� 213 training sessions were run at those Schools.

� Seven training courses were delivered.

� The Fluffville Saves Energy book was produced by the Project Officer, launched at

Mouswald Primary School and distributed to every primary school in Dumfries and

Galloway.

� A litter calendar was produced in partnership with the People’s Project and designed by

school children from St Josephs College and Maxwelltown High School.

� Partnerships were established across Dumfries and Galloway which helped to ensure the

smooth running of the region-wide project.

� Awareness of the need to reduce energy was raised throughout the time of the project

through press releases, attendance at events and information being passed through

children onto families.

� The project was selected as an example of best practice in the Leader Rural Awards.


3 PROJECT BUDGET

The project was anticipated to cost £81,666 with Leader providing 50% of the funding (£40,833

awarded). The remainder of the funding (50%) was provided by E-ON, the windfarm company.

The costs incurred by the project during the two years were on target.

Additional funding was provided by Dumfries and Galloway Council for two additional projects -

the production costs of the book, ‘Fluffville Saves Energy’ and a short documentary ‘Fluffville

Films’.

The total actual project costs were £81,552.68.

The actual amount claimed from Leader for the project was £40,776.34, with £40,833.00 paid

by E.ON UK Ltd.

Project Officer, Liz Gunby, working with Park Primary School, Stranraer


4 ACTIVITIES

4.1 Working with School Children

Over the course of two years the Project Officer, Liz

Gunby (Sarah Turnbull for the first three months),

has worked with over 6,000 children from 91

schools. This was achieved by delivering the

‘Energy Roadshow’ or the presentation on

‘Sustaining our World’ to the children and working

with groups within the schools to help them achieve

their Green Flag status. There were always

teachers sitting in on the presentations and so 213

teachers were also trained in these topics.

The Project Officer would often gear the presentation to the specific needs of the school giving

a much wider range of talks on Energy along with the basic Energy Roadshow. A number of

age related presentations were developed for the topics and the Project Officer also created a

number of other shows. For example, she developed a presentation to look at the pros and

cons of Electricity versus Clockwork and worked with some schools in more detail helping them

to create their own characters and ways of saving energy, such as at Troqueer Primary School.

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Electricity v Clockwork Presentation Troqueer Primary Presentation


4.2 Training Courses

A number of training courses have been run as part of this project. A CPD (Continuing

Professional Development) session was held for teachers in Lockerbie on Energy and an Eco-

Workshop for parents was held at Whithorn. The parents had requested the session so they

could find out about leading a greener lifestyle and support the children in the Eco-Schools

Group. The choices for the Eco-Workshop given to the parents are outlined in Appendix 1. A

Sustainability Day was also held in partnership with the Crichton Carbon Centre at Creetown

Primary School with CPD Sessions for Teachers.

The Project Officer attended the World Oceans Day Events at Rockcliffe and Port William with

a separate day attended with a live link to schools on GLOW, the Scottish schools on-line

education community. This was the first time that this had been attempted in Dumfries and

Galloway and proved to be really successful with the children able to chat to the Project Officer

and Dumfries and Galloway Council Rangers on the beach about what they could see over the

link such as the rock pools with crabs and seaweed.

The Project Officer also attended a number of educational and environmental events where she

was able to provide training for teachers, parents and other adult groups. This included twice

attending the annual Environment Fair at DGOne and the University of Glasgow Science

Mayhem Day.

4.3 Fluffville Saves Energy

The Project Officer wrote, designed and produced

‘Fluffville Saves Energy’ to provide a teaching resource

for primary school age children. The book covers the

topic of Energy and shows children what happens

locally with recycling and waste treatment. The book

was launched at Mouswald Primary School and has

been distributed to each primary school in Dumfries and

Galloway. The production of the booklet was funded by

Dumfries and Galloway Council.


4.4 Litter Calendar

The Project Officer was approached by Mark Jardine of the People’s Project to set up a

competition for secondary schools in Dumfries to produce a calendar for 2011 which raised

awareness of the problem of litter in the

environment, especially in the Dumfries area. The

Design Brief is attached at Appendix 2. Although

there was a short timescale involved, there were

some great designs with the winning entries

coming from St Josephs College and Maxwelltown

High School. The calendar was launched at the

end of 2010 with the school children of the winning

designs.

Litter pigs from Maxwelltown High School

4.5 Fluffville Films Secondary Schools Puppet Project

The Project Officer was keen to set up a film project working with secondary school age

children. This took the form of a puppet show which was filmed from the starting point of

making the puppets right the way through to putting on the puppet show. The film was then

launched at the Robert Burns Film Theatre in May 2011, during Film Festival Week. Fluffville

Films has worked with young people from Maxwelltown High School, Stranraer Academy,

Dumfries Academy and Dumfries and Galloway Befriending Project. The aim of the film was to

promote an energy-saving message and develop the self-esteem and team-working skills of

young people. The design brief is shown at Appendix 3.

Tiddles, the puppet in production


5 IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY AND FEEDBACK

This project has been really successful in engaging with large numbers of children and schools

across Dumfries and Galloway through the innovative presentations and workshops that the

Project Officer has led. Some of the comments from participants are given below:

From Andrew Brown, a teacher at Maxwelltown High School, “We have been delighted with

the input from the Eco-Schools Dumfries and Galloway into Maxwelltown High School, both in

mainstream and particularly in the Learning Centre, working with pupils with learning and/or

physical disabilities. The Eco-Schools Coordinator is enthusiastic, capable and knowledgeable

and we are enjoying her input in many ways. I am absolutely delighted with the work we have

achieved with Eco-Schools over the past term and look forward to continued partnership

working in the future”.

From Fiona Boyam, a Teacher at Mouswald Primary School, “Staff and pupils at Mouswald

School would like to say how highly they value the service provided by the Eco Schools

Coordinator. Liz Gunby is always willing to help with any query and has come out to our school

on several occasions to carry out the Energy Roadshow, Sustaining Our World and a Recycled

Christmas Card Enterprise.

She also launched the children’s book ‘Fluffville saves Energy’ book from our school, which

was an event enjoyed by everyone.

We are working towards our fourth Green Flag and appreciate the partnership we have with

Eco Schools Dumfries and Galloway.

Thank you”.

From Evelyn Steele, P7 Class Teacher and Eco-School Coordinator, Whithorn Primary

School, “The Eco-Schools with Energy Coordinator has been an Invaluable asset to our

school. She is always available to give advice and regularly comes into school to help and

work with classes when asked. We are in the process of attaining our first Green Flag and

have been highly motivated as a school by Elizabeth Gunby's enthusiasm for Eco-Schools.

The pupils enjoy her visits and have learnt a great deal while looking at the three areas of

Energy, Litter and Transport. Every class in Whithorn Primary is involved from Nursery to P7

which I think is due to Elizabeth encouraging and working with all stages. This is a fabulous

resource for the region and Whithorn Primary fully support its continuance and hope that

funding is forthcoming for schools to further benefit from inputs”.


From Julie Turner, Volunteer Coordinator (Stranraer Area), Dumfries and

Galloway Befriending Project, “Just wanted to say thank you so much for the fantastic

opportunity you gave our young people, befrienders and staff (Fiona and I certainly enjoyed

ourselves), with the puppet workshops. The whole experience of being involved with Fluffville

Films has given the young people so much self-confidence, team-working skills and above all

else – great fun!”

From Brenda Proctor, Learning Support Teacher, Maxwelltown High School,”I would just

like to say what fun everybody had working on Fluffville Films (apart from my speech - mind

you, the others all thought that was fun!) You were really great, full of enthusiasm and super

with the kids. Stuart made a great impression and his approach was wonderful and helpful to

everyone. You both fitted in with our learning centre very well indeed. I'm sure it will be as

successful at your other schools.”


5 LESSONS LEARNED AND THE FUTURE OF ECO-SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY

The biggest challenge of the project was that the first Project Officer running Eco-Schools with

Energy left to go back to teaching after the first three months of the project. The lesson learned

from this was to ensure that future projects have a recruitment budget that would cover this

eventuality. A speedy recruitment was very important so that the project programme was not

delayed. However, the recruitment process produced several high calibre applicants and

Solway Heritage was very fortunate to employ Elizabeth Gunby, whose enthusiastic approach

not only achieved but exceeded the target of schools visited with the Energy Roadshow.

The future of Eco-Schools with Energy has been secured albeit in a slightly different format.

Funding for another two years has been secured from Leader, E-ON UK Ltd and Dumfries and

Galloway Council to carry out the Eco-Schools Dumfries and Galloway Project. This will not

only cover the Energy topic but also the new ‘Food in the Environment’ topic of Eco-Schools.

The Project has been transferred to Dumfries and Galloway Council to run for the next two

years and will hopefully be mainstreamed in the future through the Sustainability Department.


APPENDIX 1 – ECO-WORKSHOP CHOICES FOR PARENTS AT WHITHORN

EEEEccccoooo----WWWWoooorrrrkkkksssshhhhooooppppssss Would you like to learn how to make a bird box out of old wood? Or how about making home-made paper using dried flowers, seeds and leaves? Have fun with your children using loo-roll-middles and empty yoghurt pots to create monsters and weird animals……or see how easy it is to make a glove puppet using nothing but a balloon and old newspaper. Cheer up the garden or window sill with decorated plant pots and delicious herbs and learn how to make compost from your ordinary kitchen waste. All these activities are low-cost and will save the planet – so let’s get Eco-Friendly! Please tick the box or boxes for the workshops which appeal to you.

Hand-made paper □

Paper mache Puppets □

Junk Monsters □

Bird Boxes □

Compost making □

Plant pots and herbs □


APPENDIX 2 – DESIGN BRIEF FOR THE LITTER PROJECT CALENDAR COMPETITION

Secondary Schools Calendar Competition– Design Brief – a collaborative project between Dumfries Schools

Participating Schools and Partners: St Joseph’s College Maxwelltown High School The People’s Project Eco-Schools Dumfries and Galloway Design Outcome: A spiral-bound A4 calendar for 2011 based on the theme - litter. One high-quality calendar will be produced between all four Dumfries Secondary Schools, with copies for each school to sell. Calendars can be sold for a minimum of £5.00 per unit. There is potential for setting up a small enterprise and / or for selling at Christmas Fairs etc. Each school will illustrate three months, which will be chosen at the discretion of the judging panel. The overall best entry will feature as the front cover. Brief: You are required to produce artwork for a 2011 calendar based on the problem of litter. You can interpret ‘litter’ in whichever way you choose – it could be dropping food and sweetie wrappers, empty drinks cans and bottles. It could also be defacement of road signs, or graffiti in public places. How you chose to understand and react to the term is up to you. Your response can be an illustration, photograph, cartoon, comic strip or piece of graphics / typography. Methodology: The Eco-Schools Coordinator is happy to come a present the idea to students at Assemblies and / or class / registration sessions. She is also available to work with students during lunch time or after school to assist with generation of ideas, producing roughs and the design process. The project could be worked collaboratively, for example, someone could write the copy and someone else create the illustrations – this isn’t just for people who are ‘good at art’!


Dimensions / Description: A4 wall calendar - 7 leaves in block date style. 210 x 297mm. One sheet for each month plus cover. The 7 leaf style means each sheet is printed on both sides, so therefore uses less paper and is better for the environment. At the end of June simply turn the calendar around and you will find July through to December printed on the reverse of each sheet.

Example1 Example 2 Size for artwork: A4 landscape 297 x 210 mm. Printers will resize artwork if required. Deadline for artwork: Artwork must be received by 29 October 2010 for judging. Calendars will be delivered in mid November. Please send artwork to:

Elizabeth Gunby. Eco-Schools. 7 Church Crescent, Dumfries DG11DF.

Please make sure the names of the artist / designer and school is attached to your work.


APPENDIX 3 – FLUFFVILLE FILMS SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPPET PROJECT

Dumfries and Galloway

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Project Outcome Students in year groups S1-2 will create characters and design and make paper mache puppets based on the children’s book, Fluffville saves Energy. They will also make a puppet theatre out of recycled materials. The theme for the films will be saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint and will be aimed at children in the P4-5 age bracket. Students will write a script for a ten-minute film, which will be professionally recorded and broadcast on-line using the Glow intranet. DVD’s of the film will also be produced, which we will premier at The Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre. Practical workshops will be documented by the film-maker to evidence the educational process and share with partners and colleagues using Glow and other methods. Fluffville Films supports the Curriculum for Excellence Learning Outcomes and Experiences. Design Brief Students will watch the Eco-Schools Energy Presentation and be given a copy of Fluffville Saves Energy. Following this, students will be asked to invent their own characters / use existing Fluffville characters, who will promote an energy-saving message. Initially, work will begin in sketchbooks, making rough designs and starting to write the script. Ideas will be generated and explored for the presentation using storyboards and text. Students will follow the design process through to finalising their ideas and constructing puppets out of paper mache. They will also construct a simple puppet theatre and any props necessary for their presentation. Methodology Work will take place over seven one hour sessions, either at lunchtime or after school. It is proposed that the Eco-Schools Coordinator will work with six secondary schools, across the region. Each school will be given a different area of focus, to avoid duplication. Potential focus areas are:

• What is climate change and what are some of the problems associated with it?

• What is pollution?

• What are fossil fuels and why should we try to use them less?

• All about sources of renewable energy

• Top Tips for saving Energy!

• How to save energy in Fluffville


Session 1: Brief students, show Eco-Schools presentation and Fluffville book. Students start to design characters in sketch books and think about the script and message they want to promote. Session 2: Finalise character designs. Start constructing paper mache puppet heads. Work on script. Session 3: Complete puppet heads. Complete scripts. Session 4: Paint puppet heads. Start constructing theatre. Props. Session 5: Fabric paint puppet bodies (prepared). Finish theatre. Props. Session 6: Rehearse presentation. Finish props. Session 7: Video presentation Links to the Curriculum for Excellence This project links closely to the Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes across a range of subject areas, including Expressive Arts, Technologies and Literacy across learning. Links to the Eco-Schools topics Fluffville Films links to the Energy and Global Issues topics of the Eco-Schools Programme. Work from this project can be used towards schools’ participating on the Bronze, Silver or Green Flag Awards. Timescales Fluffville Films will take place over the period January 2011 – April 2011 Screening of the documentary is likely to take place at The Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre at the Film Festival in May 2011.

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A film about saving energy created by young people in Dumfries and Galloway

5.30pm Thursday 5 May 2011 at The Robert Burns Film Theatre Dumfries DG27BE

RSVP by 29/04/11 to Eco Schools Solway Heritage 7 Church Crescent Dumfries DG11DF 01387 247543 [email protected]

Documents

ECO-SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY - Dumfries and Galloway LEADER€¦ · Eco-Schools with Energy Evaluation 5 • visits to Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools to assist them to undertake