Malin Bridge Primary School

At Malin Bridge Primary School, we have been working on a number of projects and, as a school, we feel that we are improving the school environment. Every year, Green Team complete an environmental review. We have a display board to provide information and share ideas with the rest of the school. TheEco-Box is located in the Junior hall. Members of the school community are invited to offer suggestions or make comments.

Litter and rubbish

Litter pickers pick up litter in the play ground every day to keep the school tidy. We have installed new bins to clearly show where the rubbish needs to go.Members of Green Team have met with Mrs Sawyer, our school cleaner,to discuss keeping our classrooms tidier. We have recently re-introduced the‘Tidy Classroom’ trophy which Mrs Sawyer will award every week.

Waste

Malin Bridge Primary School recycles paper,batteries and printer cartridges.We compost fruit and vegetable waste and grass cuttings, and we re-use uniform.We also collect old clothes, shoes,bedding and other soft furnishings and donate them to the Fire fighters Charity collection.There are Food-bank collections in the Infant and Junior buildings too.

Energy

Last year, we took part in Switch-Off Fortnight. Green Team led the project; we put stickers up in all classrooms, designed posters and ensured all computers were switched off when not in use.The school has had a large proportion of windows replaced with double-glazed windows to help reduce draughts, retain heat ands ave energy.

Transport

We encourage use of sustainable transport through various initiatives such as our Walking Bus programme, the 10 Day Active Travel Challenge (in conjunction with SUSTRANS), Pedestrian Training, and bio sand scooter parking spots.One of our three Walking Bus routes on their way to schoolWear it Bright Day (bike awareness)Children can rider heir bikes and scooters to school and park them in the parking spots Pedestrian Training   

School grounds

Green Team completed a gardening project last year. We painted, weeded and planted the raised beds. We also planted vegetables including tomatoes, carrots,  onions and radishes. Lavender was planted to attract bees. Have recently planted a number of bulbs in the rased beds too ready for the springtime. Green Team take responsibility for watering the plants everyday. 

Healthy eating

We work in partnership with our school dinner provider, Taylor Shaw, to provide healthy eating choices in school for breakfast and lunch. We have a Breakfast Club and 5 lunch options per day as well as a salad bar. Last year, we ran a scheme called ‘Healthy Houses’ where children received counters for making healthy choices at lunchtime. The counters converted into school House Points? a big motivator for the children to choose healthily! Our SN G (School Nutrition Action Group) group meet every half-term to discuss healthy eating choices. We also have themed food days.   s we were lucky to have the Tour de France pass through Sheffield last summer, we based our school work around the theme and even had a Tour themed special menu one day! Our mobile garden (courtesy of Taylor Shaw) 

Exercise

At Malin Bridge Primary School we promote healthy living and the importance of exercise. We have an extensive Extended Learning programme which includes a wide range of sports clubs. We offer football, gymnastics, running, dance, rugby and athletics. We also take part in numerous competitions throughout the year including Sports Hall Athletics, School Sports Games and the Sheffield Primary School Football Championship. We have 3 regular Gymnastics clubs (KS1, KS2 and Advanced) at Malin Bridge. They have been running for 7 years. A Y3/4 team and a Y5/6 team participated in the South Yorkshire School Games last year and came 2nd and 7th respectively.   Our school football team are the Sheffield Primary School Football Champions 2014:   We also have a number of environmental clubs such as Gardening and Forest Schools. The Forest Schools club took part in the Forest Schools Jamboree last June at Norfolk Park, Sheffield., alongside other Primary schools in Sheffield.   

Eco-code

We have an eco-code at Malin Bridge Primary School which was written by our pupils. We use it to guide our choices in and out of school.Our eco-code is on display on the ’Green Notice’ board in school.We ensure everyone in our school community can make use of it.

Global perspective

We try to give our pupils a global perspective through topics in our curriculum. The KS2 curriculum includes a unit called "Saviours of the Universe" where children consider how their lives impact on the world; as part of this they create WEEE men from recycled materials. Other topics include "Africa", "Around the world in 30 days" and "Rumble in the Jungle". Children frequently participate in discussions related to Fairtrade and understand the impact that fairly priced goods can have on the people who produce them. There is a mosaic in the Junior hall which was produced by a Sheffield artist together with KS2 children and illustrates where Malin Bridge is in theworld. Images of south Yorkshire surround the image of the school, followed by images of the UK and then the world. 

Pupil feedback

 We like to get feedback from our pupils on our green initiatives as much as possible. We are always looking for ways of getting more children involved and recently participated in the ‘Live Better Competition’ which saw our pupils come up with some very creative solutions to sustainability.I enjoyed Switched-Off Fortnight because we put stckers on all the light switches and people switched their lights off and opened the blinds! Jack Fitzsimmons, age 10. I like the new penguins because you can put your apple cores in them! Dylan Thornhill, age 9. I like gardening because the vegetables are cooked for lunch! Milly Kemp, age 10. Green Team assemblies help us to share what Green Team do with the rest of the school?! Charlote Bool, age 10, and Erin Parkinson, age 10.   We celebrate the different languages spoken at Malin Bridge Primary School and have a large display (also in the Junior hall) showing the diversity of our school.