Think how you can help to make Ringwood a more sustainable school, by taking part in a project at our school or by helping other schools. "Think global; act local" is a common theme for environmental work in schools and was the theme for one of our Eco Days.  This year we are beginning begin to act global.

National Marine Week
1-16 August 2009

Even if you'd rather not be in UK, our marine environment provides a haven for some of our most fascinating wildlife, such as basking sharks, grey seals, puffins and dolphins.  The Wildlife Trusts are celebrating the UK's amazing sea animals and plants during National Marine Week in August. Events have been organised by both Dorset and Hampshire Wildlife Trusts. So, explore the seashore, uncover the magic of the marine worls, wallow with whelks or simply visit the WIldlife Trusts website. http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=events:summer:marineweek 

...or try Marwell Wildlife Art Exhibition

Grow Your Own 2009: the end of the summer season

We started our raised beds in March, using different composts and fertiliser in each. Our lettuce have been fabulous with several being used by the canteen at lunchtime. We have even managed three crops of lettuce in one raised bed.

Much produce was used on Eco Day (below) to provide lunch for our guests. At the end of term our trial potatoes that had been grown in polythene bags were turned out, but those in the beds have been left until next term.  Some of the student growers took potatoes home and they gave away (and often sold) the remainder to staff.  Chard and onions were also harvested. The chard and some of our earlier lettuce was grown from seed provided by New Forest transition. Several members of staff took seed packets home and we look forward to hearing about their results in September! 

September's season will start with an intensive session of manuring and fertilising of some of these beds.

Starting off the beds in March	Giant chard!
More chard	Lollo Rosso: third crop of the year!
Red onions ready for harvest	Some of our potatoes!
Silverskin onions ready for harvest	White onions ready for harvest

Inspired by the theme of the latest wake-up call to bring us to our senses, the epic film ‘The Age of Stupid’, students acted out the impact of a 2055 apocalyptic future in a visionary drama session; they wrote environmental poetry, created musical instruments from junk, painted their feet and, with the help of a parent, produced their own toiletries using basic resources and home-produced oils. Some made their own bio-diesel and a natural glue with which they made recycled newspaper carrier bags. Others, under the watchful eye of canteen manager, Sara Wood, prepared a ‘local’ lunch using largely home-grown produce. Language students managed to stage a green demonstration in town using French and Spanish slogans.

The school is particularly grateful to individuals and outside agencies who provided workshops: the National Parks Authority guided students through the potential impact of climate change on the New Forest and, as a thought provoking exercise, students created solar ovens from pizza boxes generously supplied by Al Trullo of Ringwood. Liberty’s Reptiles and Raptors provided birds of prey that allowed former student, Louise Fairless, to deliver a superb workshop. Thanks to The Lovely Little Wood Company of Ringwood, some students learnt about English wood and were able to create pencils, whistles and crayons from sustainably harvested timber. Thanks to Cliff Lewis of Tools for Self Reliance, other students refurbished and packed a crate of tools which was then dispatched to Zambia.  HIV/AIDS has hit almost every family in Zambia, a country with 1,500,000 orphans under the age of 18 years.  Students included a letter to explain how they had prepared the tools and showing their support for the children of the Hope House Orphanage.  

How chemistry helps: making biofuel and glue		Drama: apocalypse in 2055
Guest poets		Crayon making from sustainable wood
Birds of prey from Liberty's		Languages demo
Footprint Friends		Local food or Fairtrade food for the guests
Making toiletries from Ringwood mint		Beautifully packaged with recycled cardboard
Dissecting an owl pellet		Toold for Self Reliance
Birds of prey from Libertys		Some of the cooks
Preparing food from the raised beds	Languages demo starts off	Learning to be green	Tim describes the properties of different woods

Ringwood School was delighted to be announced the winner of this award earlier this month (June 2009).  Six students, each of whom had made a different, and valued contribution to our work, collected the award on behalf of the school. However, we know that this is an award for everyone, so well done and thank you to all students, staff, parents and friends for your support in our quest to make Ringwood a more sustainable school. The judges said,   “Sustainability suffuses the school. From the moment a visitor walks through the door, the message is everywhere. There was a breathless whirl of enthusiasm about it.” Read their report here.  

All Year 7 students have been asked to calculate their carbon footprint using the WWF simple online calculator. This tells you how many planets your lifestyle needs and while it's not perfect, it's simple, entertaining and quick. Footprinting is being carried out in tutor groups during morning registration , with sixth form biologists offering support (thank you!)

When Year 7 have made their calculations we will have data for everyone below sixth form. Staff are also invited to calculate their footprint and to mail it to Mrs Hickman or to ICT.   http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/  It can be anonymous!

Some of you will remember breeding and releasing Painted Lady butterflies at school last summer. 

Students recorded our butterflies with the Butterfly Conservation Trust. There are worries that the cold winter and last year's wet summer may be bad news for butterflies, but this week (May half term) there has been a great influx of Painted Ladies from Africa. If you've seen any, please record them on the Butterfly Conservation Trust (click here). It's easy to do and important in butterfly conservation. You may even see a humming bird hawk moth too. 

When we obtained a small grant to make the climate change garden, we faced a choice - water collection and storage or plants? Students decided to buy plants - particularly drought resistant species, except near the pond margins. We simply did not have the money to collect rainwater and channel it to the garden as well.

Thanks to a grant from Wessex Salmon and River Trust, we are now able to collect rainwater from the vocational building.  Our rainwater harvesting system has been installed at last! Rainwater draining from the roof is channeled under the paving to the climate change garden. There, water is stored in a large underground tank and is available to top up the pond and to water the raised beds - all without the need to waste tap water.

To increase students' awareness of Fairtrade, and to provide some fun, sixth form students (and others) organised a series of Fairtrade games in the hall at break. Students enjoyed fishing games, guess the weight of the egg, a treasure hunt and a 'how many Fairtrade products can you see' game. Ms Wood provided Fairtrade orange juice and students sold Fairtrade chocolate and bars.

Bird Brother

Our nest box with webcam has provided endless entertainment throughout April and May - our very own Springwatch!  A pair of blue tits started roosting in the box overnight during early March and nest building started in early April. First eggs were laid on Easter Monday and the last were laid two weeks later giving a total of ten. Two weeks later, all hatched over a period of two days. 

Thanks to their very attentive parents, most chicks grew and thrived on a diet of several hundred green moth caterpillars a day. The first chick, Tyson, fledged after 17 days. Four more fledged after we broke up for half term at 20 days.  

A collection of photos shows some of the most significant events in the chicks' development.

At a Dragons' Den-style innovation challenge in Portsmouth, a five-strong team from Ringwood scooped a £500 prize for their energy-saving brainwave, presented as a business plan to a panel of judges.

Their brief was to come up with an invention which would both save energy, and make them money. The students’ idea was a card carried by office employees which detects when they enter or leave the workplace. The card is read when staff enter the building, and switches on the lights and appliances at workstations – and switches them off when they leave.

The team was led by Gareth Cork. Other team members were Jenny, Lucas Helen and Katrina. They enterprising team have met twice a week since November to plan and perfect the e-Controller, a system for saving energy in the workplace.

Students now want to translate the idea into production!

Big Dig April 2009

Thanks to Key Stage 3 Eco Reps and their friends, this was probably  one of the biggest Digs ever. Students clearly loved this earthy early morning event and it was great to see so many taking part. Over a hundred small trees and shrubs were planted in a manic half hour.  Lots of thorny species such as hawthorn, dog rose and blackthorn were planted because they provide flowers and berries for food, and habitat for wildlife including birds. Mr Whitford made a generous donation of six trees from and the Woodland Trust provided a pack of 30 tiny saplings.  Thanks to Mr Whitford, Mrs Upson and Russell for their help.       For a large version of the collage below click here.

Wormy Thursday

Year 13 ran Wormy Thursday with 25 Key Stage 3 volunteers. In an exhausting (for the sixth form) one and a half hours, pits were dug, soil samples were taken and analysed and earthworms were counted and identified. This big event was part of Darwin Year celebrations as the great man was very fond of earthworms! It had a very serious side though as this was part of the UK's national earthworm survey. Results are being sent to Imperial College London.

Well done to all who took part. Huge thanks to sixth formers James Fullick, Georgie Budd, Georgie Russell and Ellie Stacey - who learnt as much about the behaviour of children as about the classification of earthworms!

The grey worm - one of Britain's most common species

WATCH FOR OTHER DARWIN EVENTS NEXT TERM!

Virgin birth at Ringwood April 1st

We always thought of our willow stag as a male but weird things happened on April 1st when our 'stag' gave birth to a young fawn (see below), and a magnificent stag appeared on the school field. He disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared. Strange things happen at Ringwood.

Tuvalu

What is Tuvalu?  It is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. Two of ita nearest neighbours are Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four beautiful reef islands and five coral atolls (there is a difference!)  Its population of 11,992 makes it the third-least-populated independent country in the world.  Yet Tuvalu faces catastrophe and if you still don't think global warming's happening, look at this video... http://media.adelaidenow.com.au/multimedia/2008/10/tuvalu/tuvalu-perthnow.html 

We now have a link with Tuvalu. Although communications are difficult, children have (through a link with Paris) managed to write to us. Some students in the Eco group have received a newsletter in the form of a comic. We thought they deserved a good comic and Katie and Steph (Year 9) have created this superb comic showing life in Ringwood. The next stage will be to show life at Ringwood School.

Katie's and Steph's Ringwood Town comic here

Starting the raised beds

Thanks to Rachel and Jack who led a good start to this year's gardening season with a clearance of the raised beds after school.  A few salad vegetables were planted out despite the possible risk of frosts!

During April 2nd's Big DIg an enthusiastic band of students stayed on to complete the planting of soft fruit in one bed (see below). 

Climate Change in assembly

To mark Friends of the Earth's 'Shout About' week, Year 9 are prepared an assembly for Year 7.  Students were introduced to climate change, 'Who Will Save Us' (a book about penguins and climate change) and to Footprint Friends. Students were given the opportunity to sign up for Footprint Freinds the follwoing day.

Shout About 2009 is all about working together to find solutions to climate change in the local community. Watch this video to show how one school celebrated Shout About last year. Other students will be carrying out research for the Forestry Commission on climate change.  As one Year 9 student says, "We're the ones that will be here when things get bad; we should be part of deciding what we do about it now". 

Fairtrade fortnight                     

Fairtrade Fortnight was celebrated with Amnesty International on Tuesday March 3rd.  Students took over the canteen at break and sold £160 worth of Fairtrade food. Chocolate as usual, sold out out immediately! Various games and activities took place in the hall, while we projected the Fairtrade film, 'Black Gold'.  It was good to see that students from every year group helped.   Well done, and thanks to all. 

March plans

• Another Dig  - second week in March.

• Sixth formers are about to start some species surveys with you. Watch this space!

• We will start monitoring what arrives in the new ponds. This video shows some arrivals in the ponds, and others that have over-wintered!

• Fairtrade sales will continue in the canteen on selected Fridays.  There have been lots of requests to run Making a Mint again, especially combining with Fairtrade as before. There is no competition this year, but Mrs Whalen is keen to do our own.   

• We plan to start gardening again: potatoes are being chitted right now! We plan to treat one of the raised beds with 'green manure' to see how it compares with fresh compost.

• To mark Friends of the Earth's 'Shout About' week, Year 9 are carrying preparing an assembly for Year 7. Shout About 2009 is all about working together to find solutions to climate change in the local community. Watch this video to show how one school celebrated Shout About last year. Other students will be carrying out research for the Forestry Commission on climate change.  As one Year 9 student says, "We're the ones that will be here when things get bad; we should be part of deciding what we do about it now". 

• As a reminder of how seriously some students take the topic of climate change, look at this inspiring presentation that was put together by all the Ringwood students who took part in the climate change conference. It is a tribute to these students that, although they come from different year groups, each one managed a significant contribution. thanks to Gareth Cork for putting it together.

EARTH HOUR! 

Climate change needs our urgent attention. This is why we've had a climate conference, entered climate change competitions, invited speakers and have worked with Footprint Friends! Remember our students' presentation on climate change?  Look at the pdf version here. We need a new international agreement – ‘global deal’ – which sets out how the growing climate crisis will be tackled. The WWF has a great campaign - Earth Hour. WWF believes there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But we need to act now. Check out the website and sign up now!  WWF and Climate Change

And once more .... our  students' presentation on climate change?  Look at the pdf version here.

Energy Update!

We are planning another survey next month (March) to see if those monitors are being switched off. Meanwhile Eco Warriors report that the English Department is making MASSIVE efforts. Well done English.
	Switch them off!

BIrdwatch 2009

Thirty five students from all years took part in January's RSPB Birdwatch. This year's Birdwatch was uneventful in terms of birds. We saw a slight decline in all species except wagtails. Results will be posted up later. However, we did enjoy a great lunchtime talk from Steve Lancaster of the RSPB.  We are also grateful for Steve  helping us out during the actual watch later in the afternoon. Thanks Steve!   

Recycling

With regret we have had to stop our collection of polythene mail wrappers until the economic situation improves. The cost of posting these currently vastly outweighs the value of the plastic - and thousands of wrappers cost A LOT to post. We will start again if and when the value fo the plastic goes up. Meanwhile, try to campaign for paper wrappers. However, we still recycle everything else!

Christmas cards 

Yet again, we set up a large collection box in reception. Ten huge sacks of Christmas cards were collected for the Woodland Trust. We hope that Ringwood School helps them to meet their target for Christmas 2008.

Paper

Paper was very much in the news during January.  Firstly, Eco Warriors undertook a BIG paper survey at the end of term. They looked at the type of paper in the recycling bins and found far too much contamination (see below)

KEY

1.     Card   

2.     Photocopying

3.     Lined paper/exercise book paper

4.     Xmas wrapping paper

5.     Sweet wrappings

6.     Other (contamination) Contamination included bubble wrap, plastic packaging, shiny non-recyclable crisp and snack packets, polystyrene, sheets of polythen e

Students also looked at copy paper and the news was not good: they found far too much paper was being thrown out one-sided. The other side could have been used for scrap paper. Students also found huge differences between departments: some were brilliant and others, well .....   The results have been published in the Week Ahead and have been given to all Heads of Departments. 

At January's Eco meeting, the matter was discussed and a huge number of suggestions were made. these have been shared with staff and we hope that when we do the next survey (in March) there will be a massive improvement. Wasting paper wastes trees, energy and money!  

Another paper problem

 In January, we received the rather unwelcome news that the school will be charged £3000 pa for paper recycling. Four students joined the Environment Panel at New Forest District Council to voice their views. 

Reduce the School's Carbon Footprint

All students in Years 7, 8 and 9 calculated their carbon footprint last summer. Reducing the school's carbon footprint is a long term aim. We also calculated the school’s energy rating. The certificate (showing a ‘C’ grade) is displayed in reception.  We know that compared with some schools, this isn’t too bad, but we also know, from reading the energy meters, that the school could do much to reduce its carbon footprint. That would reduce the amount of CO₂ we produce, save wastage on fossil fuels and reduce the school’s energy bills.  

If you would like to borrow one of our small energy meters to take home, see Mrs Hickman

Energy Survey December 2008

Tom Wickens (Year 13) organised another (our 4th) energy survey in the last two weeks of the Christmas term.  Members of the energy squad or Eco Warriors, arrived in rooms at lunchtime unannounced and noted what was left on and what was switched off. Where equipment was left on they left a calling card advising teachers to turn it off. Some areas of the school will be specifically targeted by the energy squad. They will make a second check of all rooms after the February half term to see whether there has been a change in behaviour. All  Heads of subjects have been given detailed statistics for their subject area.

The room by room analysis, and the departmental analysis has been published in the Week Ahead. The pie charts below only give the broadest indication of problems. 

The best turn off rate for all electrical equipment turned out to be in VOCATIONAL, LINWOOD, ART, MATHS and SCIENCE.

Not too good.  It's even easier to turn a monitor off than a computer.

MUCH better than last time! However, there are still a few people who leave a room with the projector on.

This looks bad, with over 50% of rooms with lights on, but in fact, many of the rooms surveyed were occupied.

Green Tree Award: GOLD

Our last Big Dig brought a surprise: we were awarded a GOLD Green Tree Award from the Woodland Trust in recognition of the number of trees we have planted on the site during the last four years. Below: just a few of those who have been involved in tree planting this year, with the plaque. We are currently one of the few schools in the country to hold a Gold Award! More tree planting is planned in March.

Big Dig

Eco Reps from Year 7 and 8 tutor groups planted trees around the new pond area on a particularly cold and frosty morning in early December. Thanks to the members of staff who donated trees.  Remember that those of you who planted trees get a Green Point!

Here is one student's account of the event:

On Tuesday 2nd December, Ringwood School's Year 7 and 8 Eco Reps gathered around to plant the new trees around the new climate change garden.  This year is the school's golden anniversary and because of this planting is now the year we hope to become a Golden Tree school. The whole dig started off at 8:50 when all Year 7&8 eco reps met around the garden to receive two or three trees and a marker to say their tutor group and names. While planting,  me and Tillytots24 took some quotes of how the reps felt about how they are helping the environment. Many of them quoted that "this was a  great chance to help the environment and would love to do it again". Even the sixth formers helping out (that's Tom, Georgie and James) enjoyed themselves and had this to say: "It was a great way to get Years 7 and 8 together and it is great to know that kids younger than us care about the environment". Teachers passing just had to stop and watch us planting the new trees. Many of the teachers ran back to their rooms to get their cameras, as they thought that it was such a great moment. Mrs Hickman who planned this Dig and many others Digs, was really pleased with the Eco Reps' efforts. She hopes that we shall have another Dig next year and many other years to follow.

'Diddimonster' wrote this account on Footprint Friends' website. If that doesn't mean anything to you, and you're interested in the environment, sign up as a VIP (if you're under 18), or a supporter if you are over 18. Ringwood School features many times over, as does Mountbatten - one of our partners at the climate change conference.

There are LOTS of photos of Big Dig December 2008 here 

Students from our SUSshools group met at Appletree Court Lyndhurst on November 10th. Below: students in the council chamber listen to Alan Lovell's presentation.  There are dozens of photos of the event here. Please look!

Last February we won a grant from the National College for School leadership for outreach work in sustainability. With the assistance of this grant, Ringwood formed a community of ten secondary schools from the New Forest and Southampton . We  aimed to share best practice. On Monday 10^th November, New Forest District Council hosted a Climate Change Conference for sixty student delegates from these schools. The venue was Appletree Court, the Council’s headquarters. 

Watch our students' presentation (pdf format) here. Thanks to Gareth for putting it all together.

Keynote speaker

The keynote speaker was Alan Lovell, the Chief Executive of a leading renewable energy company. He has met 2004 US presidential candidate and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, whose film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was a wakeup call to the world. Recently Alan met Al Gore again, who passed on new information for him to add to his presentation. The students were transfixed by his talk which showed the possible impact of climate change on life on earth in the latter half of the 21^st century.

Workshops and a video to Ed Milliband

 The presentation was followed by a series of workshops where the students could debate the effects of climate change, sharpen their knowledge of its causes and look for ways of tackling its impact. The ideas flooded in, some usable right away, others with a more whacky approach. Each student, with the help of community networking organisation Footprint Friends, was able to assess the size of their own impact on our planet and had the chance to paint their feet to symbolise how they would try to reduce their carbon footprint. Footprint Friends also filmed thirty students who had questions for Ed Milliband, the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Several of them wondered why the government seemed to do so little; others thought there wasn’t enough information around regarding climate change issues. The video has been sent to Ed, and we have received a reply, but sadly no invitation to a meeting! Watch it at http://supporters.footprintfriends.com/forums/p/387/722.aspx#722

James Fullick, Principal Student in Biology at Ringwood, started the afternoon with an excellent short presentation on climate change and the plenary session was delivered by environmentalist, activist and performance artist Danny Chivers. He brought together some amazing ideas from students for combating climate change and finally delivered his poem “Consumed”. The young audience reacted with cheers and tumultuous applause. Listen to “Consumed” at www.myspace.com/dannychivers.  Each school group took away with them an expensive remote energy monitor presented by Footprint Friends. What an inspiring day!

Footprint Friends' gallery can be found at http://yoursay.footprintfriends.com/forums/t/4724.aspx 

The rationale behind the Climate Change Conference

(WHY did we do it?)

The idea of a climate change conference was part of Ringwood's promise to NCSL. We said we'd do it! We saw such a conference as a means of sharing three important ideas.

1.  Fossil fuels are a finite resource. As it seems probable that cheap oil (that we depend upon for transport) and cheap gas (with which we heat our school buildings) will run out in our lifetime, we must seek alternative energy sources. Given that fossil fuels are a valuable resource useful for the manufacture of all valuable products including plastics, there is the argument that perhaps we should be saving them for better uses other than simply burning them. The topic is one that we feel all students should be debating.

·         2.We,as a country, are interested in security of energy supply.  The UK has a particular security-of-supply problem looming, a real “energy gap” with old coal, oil and nuclear power stations closing down during the next decade. Indeed, our ‘own’ oil-based power station at Calshot on Southampton Water is such a victim. There is a risk that electricity demand will sometimes exceed electricity supply, if adequate plans are not implemented. Again, this must be the subject of student debate.

·         3. It is highly probable, if not certain, that our use of fossil fuels changes the climate. Although climate change is blamed on several human activities, but the biggest contributor is the increase in greenhouse effect produced by carbon dioxide (CO₂), and most of that comes from burning fossil fuels- and most of that is to produce energy.  We thus urgently need to sort out a new way of getting energy.  We see the climate change problem as both an energy problem and an ecological problem. Raising awareness of the ecological problem was an important goal when Ringwood students designed and constructed a climate change garden in 2008.

Education about climate change is essential, and is often lacking in most British schools. There are new initiatives that try to bridge the gap;  EDF’s ‘Power up’ and the excellent ‘Pod’,  n-power’s climate cops, Generation Green from British Gas are all fulfilling a need, but until the government ensures that students engage with climate change through the curriculum rather than through voluntary activities, it will remain on the fringe.  To make climate change mainstream was one reason why our climate change conference was so important;  it is why we engaged high profile and creative speakers from business and the media, and above all, why we provided students with the opportunity to voice their ideas and have their say.

"I learnt so much. Everyone should know about this. What an amazing day.  Thank you for organising it, and thanks to Footprint Friends for making it fun too."  (Rachel - student).

"This kick started my school into action. Alan's 'Inconvenient Truth' lecture was an inspiration. Thank you so much." (Teacher)

Visit to Minstead Nov 4th

As part of our sustainability outreach work with SUSschools (our community of practice), we have arranged a full day visit by each participant school to Minstead Study Centre. This is in addition to the shared day in late July. Each school arranges the day as they wish, with most taking up Jane Pownall's suggestions. Ringwood's 'Movers and Shakers' day took place on November 4th, and our team comprised 32 Year 7, 8 and 9 students. Sixth form Principal Students were particularly helpful

Students learnt about waste and energy. They particularly enjoyed visiting the sustainable building, and all students should now know how to make compost. All photos of the day are available here. The day was filmed by Footprint Friends and by Jonathan Blease who is making a film about Minstead Study Centre. 

Students brought a packed lunch that had to contain minimal packaging and one Fairtrade item. There was stiff competition for the prizes of 'OWLs' - energy monitors. There were some fantastic exampels of low waste lunches too.

We were joined by Footprint Friends http://www.footprintfriends.com/ who are passionate about involving students in the debate about climate change. they say, "We all leave footprints and for this we are responsible. We also need to demonstrate that people around the world really care about future generations and the state of our planet both now and in the future.  Through Footprint Friends we can join as one community, one voice.  If you think about climate change - talk about it. If you talk about it, action will follow. A lot of action is needed".  Footprint Friends have already recorded the day on their website at certainly had a big impact on our students are these photos show.  Visit the website and join up!

Students had a lot of fun painting their feet, as these photos show. Click to download LOTS of photos.

We heard this week (3rd November) that we have been given a SILVER GREEN TREE AWARD by the Woodland Trust. This recognises both the number of mobile phones and Christmas cards we have collected for recycling, and the number of trees and hedging plants that we have planted on the school site since 2005. It is a fantastic achievement and it seems that the only school to have reached Gold is a primary school!

Click  the certificate to enlarge.

We are one 'mature oak' off a Gold award. Visit the website to see what this means! http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/schools/award 

Next Big Dig will be held at the end of November!

Two pieces of news:

Firstly, we are THE featured school in this quarter's Fair Comment magazine. This is the Fairtrade Foundation's national newsletter that is distributed throughout the country.  Unfortunately they have concentrated on the answers to certain questions we were asked but a DVD is also being produced as a result of the Fairtrade Foundation's filming that took place on Eco Day. You can pick up a copy in shops such as the Co-Op. 

Secondly, thanks to Ms Wood and her team, we are serving Fairtrade goods on selected Friday breaks in the canteen. See posters (thanks to Ellie) for details. Thank you Ms Wood! 

Fairtarde drinks and Geo Bars are always on sale in the canteen at lunchtime.

Train the trainer! 

As part of our outreach work on sustainability, 65 trainee teachers visited Ringwood at the start of a sustainable weekend.  They were shown the work that we have done on sustainability and were given tours of the school by Year 7, 8 and 9 students. These students did a great job talking to the adults

Many Southampton students have sent e-mails of thanks. in particular, they say how they notice the difference between Ringwood and their 'placement' schools: these are schools in which they practise teaching!  This is the whole idea behind 'training the trainer' and it is why this is a significant part of our outreach work.

Well done and thanks to all, and special thanks to James Fullick (Y13) and Tom Wickens (Y13)who showed their own presentations to this very large and somewhat daunting audience, and to Ms Wood who showed students her great work in the canteen, and to Mr McNulty who talked about land-based science.

PGCE students went on to enjoy a weekend at Minstead and Tile Barn, Brockenhusrt.

Sadly we were so busy that no photographs could be taken.

This is a schools and community programme run by British Gas. In return for 'green' actions, the school is awarded 'Green Leaves'. We were set a target of  164 987 leaves, and have reached 21 549; about 13%.  The website is at http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/About/ . If you click on 'Yor School', you should find Ringwood.

We earn more leaves if your parents do a home energy survey (see 'For family and friends') http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/About/For-family/ and it would be good to see more people doing this, and then crediting the school with Green leaves.  The site will then provide a certificate that is necessary when your house changes hands, whether rented or owner occupied. All this for free AND the school could earn Green leaves.

As another part of our sustainable outreach work, Alan Brewer of PSECC, visited the school with a team of energy advisors. A throrough survey will be made of the school, with a view to including renewables in the school's next new building. In addition, we hope to improve the efficiency of our existing lighting systems. Each school in our Community of practice will have the same opportunity. PSECC have already visited Mountbatten School.

Tools for Self Reliance

Our tool boxes that were packed on Eco Day were shipped today! (Sept 30th) The photo shows the headquarters of Tools for Self reliance at Netley Marsh outside Totton. One of our boxes has just been loaded onto the truck.  The boxes are being sent to Ndanda Mission School. 

Year 9 students wrote a letter to the school. It accompanies the crate (here)

We have heard that we are officially runners up in this huge competition. We're particularly pleased as we didn't set out to win and we were able to make money for charity. We were also able to promote Fairtrade as any chocolate that was used in homemade food was always Fairtrade. In addition students learnt about growing from seed and from cuttings; they learnt various cooking skills and both business and marketing skills. A large crate of Innocent smoothies is on its way to Ringwood School!   There will be a short presentation in October.                                                          

Read the entire story of Making a Mint here.

Well done to all those who took part.

Ringwood was one of seven schools nationally to receive a Roots and Shoots award which is given for work in three different areas - animals, environment and community.  Seven Ringwood students met Jane Goodall to receive Roots and Shoots awards on behalf of the school on September 15th. 

Each student had made highly significant contributions to the school's work in sustainability and had also made individual contributions in different ways. Below: Robbie and Fiona (who made a superb individual contribution) meet Dr Jane Goodall

Accompanied by Mrs Upson, students travelled to London and had a wonderful day at the National Theatre. Students described meeting Jane as totally inspiring. They enjoyed a ride on the nearby Millennium wheel before returning home.

Students received a certificate and various 'goodies'. Students are preparing an account of the day and they will receive individual awards in a few weeks.

Teach your Granny to Text

Ringwood students have contributed to a book of tips on how to improve the world. The tips are ‘Actions’ and include ‘Teach your granny to text’ (the overall winner), ‘Involve everybody’ (Ryan Brown Year 10) ‘Make someone smile’ and ‘Grow something and eat it’ (the Eco Group), ‘Love what you’ve got’ (Sophia Jones, Year 10) and ‘Write a letter’ . This was contributed by an anonymous Year 10 who has missed out on getting his or her name in a book! Never has there been a better demonstartion of the need to put your name on your work!

Students who contributed to the two winning group entries include Katie Laurilla, who has received special thanks for the quality of her work, Georgia Stephenson, Duke Kent, Oliver Wells, Sapphire Hodder, Jenny Baldwin and Fiona Salisbury. Five Actions have been made into children’s videos available on YouTube. This includes our ‘Grow something and eat it’ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KYEFi2mJei0

‘We are What We Do’, the social change group that set up the competition, have employed their own graphic artists to produce the rather wacky format that’s typical of their books! The Actions are also on the group’s website at http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/  The book is available in Sainsbury’s at the moment, and of course from Amazon.

The book was compiled by We Are What We Do, a social change group, after nearly five thousand young people sent in suggestions in response to a competition. Students were asked to come up with a simple action that, if done by a million people, would change the world. ‘Teach Your Granny to Text’ won and constitutes the centrepiece of the book.

This book is genuinely written by children for children, and it is being sent by the Government to every state school in England.

The book’s foreword says: “Our job is to bring people together and demonstrate how, using simple, everyday actions, we can create a global movement of doing and changing; doing small actions and changing big problems.”

It tells children: “You have a super power. It’s not as whizzy as X-ray vision or flying. In fact as super powers go it’s pretty ordinary. But if you use it you can change things. Big things like global warming, bullying, animal rights and why people don’t smile anymore.”

The book has a strong environmental message, advising that people should wear a jumper to tackle global warming. It also says: “Don’t sing in the shower. The average shower lasts seven minutes and uses 35 litres of water. Actually two minutes is all it takes.  Another idea is  "If everyone in one school class took two-minute showers for a year, with the water saved you could fill an entire swimming pool."

Other tips include: give lots of compliments, don’t charge your phone overnight, read with a pal, look more closely at things and find out about your food.

Well done to all those who contributed to our Actions. For Ringwood School to get FOUR Actions featured in a book that contains only thirty in total, and from an entry of nearly 5000, is an amazing achievement.

Workshop Day for lead teams at Minstead Study Centre

The inaugural meeting of staff from the SUSschools group was held at the Science Learning Centre, South East early in the summer term. Most schools were also able to send a staff member to our Eco Day in July.  The photograph above, taken at the very end of the summer term, shows students from the lead teams of each of the partner schools at a workshop day at Minstead Study Centre. All students made a tentative start at action plans for their own schools. The centre is an important external partner in the outreach work, and each of the ten schools will enjoy their own day at the centre during the autumn term.

Other planned sessions include a Climate Change Conference in the autumn term, a student meeting at RIngwood and several sessions for the adult participant, including a session on 'Preparing your Green Flag Submission' for those who are ready.

Dr Marcus Grace of the Science Learning Centre, South East, and the Institute of Education, Southampton University, is another external partner, and Ringwood students will meet the Science and Maths PGCE students from the university, to introduce them to sustainability in practice.