The William Patten Eco Committee is made up of 20 children, from Year 2 to Year 6, who meet regularly to discuss important issues regarding the environment and sustainability. Laura, who is the environment and sustainability lead, helps the children chair the meeting.
The Eco Committee has proved a fantastic way to encourage interest and involvement in caring for the natural world, and all of the members are given the responsibility of helping organise whole school events, such as Recycling Week, Fairtrade Fortnight and World Ocean Day, to name but a few!
Alongside helping with whole school events, the team also got to take part in programmes such as the RSPB Big Bird Watch, which saw them head up to Clissold Park to count the birds in our local area. The data collected was then submitted to the RSPB to help inform their research. They have also been working alongside an environmental officer at Hackney council and carried out a waste audit in the autumn term and will review this again in the summer.
This February, saw our 3^rd Fairtrade Fortnight celebration at WP. Children across the school got to celebrate by dressing up in the Fairtrade colours, with some even coming in wearing Fairtrade produce! The theme this year was about campaigning for a fair future for farmers in poorer countries, which is directly linked to climate change. KS2 children wrote pledges to the planet, while EYFS and KS1 enjoyed creating yummy recipes and art activities linked to Fairtrade.
This year, after carrying out an environmental review, the team have decided that the three target areas this year will be energy saving, learning about marine conservation and improving recycling in school. They will be working hard on all three aspects and hope to achieve the Eco-Schools Green Flag award.

Eco Committee members 2025-26

New Eco Committee 2025-26

The Eco Committee met for their first meeting recently. In the meeting we welcomed the newly elected members and thanked previously elected members who have returned for their second year. The children were shown the School’s Climate Action Plan and then identified which 5 focusses, from the Eco Schools’ framework and linked to the climate plan, they would like to focus their work on this year. The children carried out an audit of the school’s current work in each of the focus areas Ten topics – Eco Schools and will meet again after the half term to devise their own Eco School’s Action plan.  The first task of the Eco Committee will be to run a ‘switch off’ campaign, in which children understand the benefits of reducing energy use and the environmental implications of generating electricity from fossil-fuels.  The Eco Committee had lots of excellent ideas during their meeting and we are really looking forward to using these to carry out activities that raise awareness and promote greater sustainability.  The Eco Committee members who have been at Kench Hill this week will also meet after the half term, when they will also be able to contribute their thoughts and ideas to inform future actions.

Eco Schools Brochure

We were thrilled to have such a large feature in the Hackney Eco Schools Brochure, which proudly shows our Eco Committee, from last academic year, engaging with workshops, gardening and being all round Eco superstars by helping promote issues like cleaner air in the local area and making sure we recycle in school properly! A copy of the brochure will be delivered to each class for them to share and keep in book corners.

Please click on link to view: Eco-Schools Brochure

Eco team planting

Last Friday, the Eco team members came to help plant French beans in Nursery and Reception. We have been looking at the traditional tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” in class and have been learning about what seeds need to grow. The children enjoyed working together and they had lots of lovely conversations about their planting experiences and were confident to share their ideas with each other. We can’t wait to see our French beans starting to grow! A huge thank you to the Eco team and we look forward together on our next project.

Bug Hotels and Bird Feeders

In early autumn, the team put on their Eco expert hats and thoroughly enjoyed judging the KS1 entries of bug hotels and bird feeders! One member even said how happy the bugs and birds of Stoke Newington would be, with all of the entries hung around the school grounds for the animals to feast on.

Recycling Week

We had a brilliant week celebrating all things recycling at WP! It was our word of the week which was launched in assemblies, where children were encouraged to use the phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink! Especially when it comes to packaging and waste disposal. All of the classes got to take part in an interactive recycling workshop, led by Kelly who is an Environment Education Officer from Hackney Council. There was lots of sorting of different items we dispose of and interesting discussions around how we can step up our recycling game. Lastly, the Eco Committee carried out a waste audit on the roof garden, to find out what was really lurking in our bins! The children predicted that the staffroom waste might have lots of coffee in it, and they weren’t wrong! Kelly from Hackney council is going to organise a food waste bin for the staffroom, along with lots of other action points.

Sowing and planting

The Eco Committee have most certainly got green fingers after their gardening session! The members all had a wonderful time getting muddy and taking responsibility for sowing and planting their classes’ crop.  All being well, crops will be harvested from the beginning of summer and throughout the autumn. We are looking forward to tasting a variety of nutritious vegetables and fruit, which will include cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes, lettuce and much more!

For more information about which crops each year group will be taking responsibility for this growing season (and where the seedlings will be planted), please see the following overview:

Planting and Sowing Plan