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William Patten Primary School
Stoke Newington Church Street
London N16 0NX
Office Manager: Rita Quigley
SENDCo: Caitlin Shaw

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020 7254 4014

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William Patten Primary School

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The William Patten Eco-Team 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-Team 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 3rd 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 Schools Brochure

We were thrilled to have such a large feature in the Hackney Eco Schools Brochure, which proudly shows our Eco Team, 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

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.


RSPB - Big Bird Watch

The Eco Team thoroughly enjoyed their first trip out together, to take part in the RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch. They headed off to Clissold Park with Laura to tally and count the different bird species they encountered. It was wonderful to see them working as a team and sharing what they had spotted with each other, it really was a team effort. Before the trip, they predicted that pigeons would be the most popular bird and they were spot on, they sighted over 100! So it seems Clissold Park is a pigeon paradise! Along with the birds in trees and flying overhead they spotted the swans and different duck breeds that call the ponds their home. The children were giddy with excitement, especially when they spotted big flocks of birds; it was a joy to see. Thank you to all the parent helpers for coming with us and making it such an enjoyable trip and of course to the children who make up the Eco Team, you did William Patten proud.



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 Team 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 Team 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 2022-23