2014

Okehampton Primary School and Foundation Unit

Totally Clued Up

Wales & West

630 Pupils Involved
  • Regional Winner 2014
  • Regional Champion 2014

The Perils of Plastic

The children carried out thorough research into plastic waste and how it is impacting upon our planet.  They found out about the threat posed by plastic bags to sea creatures like turtles and were horrified to learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – two vast areas of floating plastic waste – twice the size of France – on the surface of the Pacific Ocean, which in places is up to 10 metres deep.  They thought creatively about how plastic rubbish could be turned into something useful, making fantastic artworks using plastic bags and even weaving re-usable shopping bags and clothing using yarn made from strips made using plastic carrier bags. 

Frances Rickwood, the school’s Eco Schools Co-ordinator said “Taking part in this year’s Total Green School Award has allowed us to draw our next two Eco School topics together and plan our plastic project.  Having the focus of applying for the Total Green School Award has helped us to think creatively, work collaboratively with new audiences and empower many of our pupils.  We have thoroughly enjoyed following the many unexpected directions that our TGSA journey has taken us and we are also looking forward to seeing where we will go next with our on-going plastic project.”

YPTE Director, Peter Littlewood, said: “This is just what we want to see in the Total Green School Awards – a fantastic amount of learning, combined with practical application of that new knowledge.  The children have learned so much about how and why plastic can present a danger to wildlife and have come up with some great solutions to some of the problems.  Their recycled shopping bags and clothing look fantastic and it’s great to see how everyone at the school has got involved.  This kind of learning has already been passed on to the children’s families and will hopefully affect some of their decision making as adults to the benefit of the environment. ”