Eco-Schools has announced the nine schools that will hold its Ambassador role for the next two years.
These are the exceptional schools across England that have been chosen to represent the Eco Schools programme, and encourage new schools to join. To be considered for the role, the schools must have held the Eco-Schools Green Flag award for four consecutive years.
The idea of an Eco-School Ambassador is that it is an inspirational flagship school that extends the ethos of Eco-Schools far beyond the school gates. These schools will already have given support and guidance to others to encourage them to be sustainable and responsible schools. They will show exceptional levels of pupil leadership and whole-school support, and have ensured that education for sustainability is embedded into their curriculum.
As an Ambassador they will have successfully delivered change in the culture of the school, and be able to demonstrate successful pupil and community interaction.
Dr. Morgan Phillips, Education Manager for Eco-Schools, said:
“The quality of the applications received this year were extremely high. It was great to assess them and learn about the brilliant approaches staff and pupils are taking to Education for Sustainability across the country. As more schools adopt the Eco-Schools framework we can be sure that more children are developing the knowledge, skills and values needed for a more sustainable world. Over the next two years our Ambassador schools will be helping schools and children in their local area to benefit through the Eco-Schools programme, Eco-Schools look forward to working with them as they do.”
The full list of Ambassador schools is:
| Bruton School for Girls | Bruton, Somerset |
| Gorse Hall Primary & Nursery School | Stalybridge, Tameside |
| St. John Vianney RC Primary School | Newcastle Upon Tyne |
| Ashley CofE Primary School | Walton on Thames, Surrey |
| Birchwood Primary School | Ipswich, Suffolk |
| Parson Street Primary School | Bristol |
| Thomas A Becket Middle School | Worthing, West Sussex |
| Mowbray School | Bedale, North Yorkshire |
| Putnoe Primary School | Bedford |
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The picture at the head of this article shows children enjoying themselves at a superior-looking outdoor adventure centre. There’s plenty of exercise, fresh air, and challenge to be found here, but it’s not clear that there’s much environmental education going on. This is the trouble with too much ‘outdoor’ education today – it’s not really about the environment – but this is something that these Ambassador schools could not be accused of neglecting. We hope to be following their work over the coming year.