OUR AIM  

To foster respect for the environment and compassion for living things; to enhance understanding of different cultures and to inspire all students to take certain actions that will make the world a better place.  

     ONE WORLD! 

Grow your own

Our 'vege-table' raised beds are magnificent. On the last day of term we were able to sell all the salad vegetables to staff and some of our growers have taken them home too. This is the end of an excellent growing season! We hope that the remaining vegetables will survive the summer.

Malawi

Our final 'event' of the year, and a fitting end to 'One World'.  We were thrilled to be able to host a visit from seven students from Malawi in the final week of term. The students had never been out of their country and on their first day, were thrust into a large English Comprehensive's sports day.  And didn't they do well!  With no PE kit and with no experience whatsoever, they quickly mastered the shot put, and came second in the relay although they had no idea what a 'relay' was!

Students were paired with a variety of Ringwood students from years 7 to 10, joining them in lessons and in their day's activities. Ringwood students certainly learnt the differences between their lifestyles and those of their African friends.  Groups of students had prepared areas they wanted to compare - recycling, wildlife and composting, for instance. Four year 10 students made compost bins from old pallets onto which New Forest animals were hand engarved. Our students realised how much English students take for granted and how many resources are squandered (and these were English students who try to lead sustainable lifestyles!)

The group was treated to a small tea party with a cake baked by Mr Portas' wife.  The Malawi students were each presented with a pen as a gift,  and the accompanying adults, with a small book.  To our students, this was a hugely enjoyable occasion. Their only regret was that they couldn't spend long enough at Ringwood School.

Thanks to Colin and to Poulner Scouts for enabling this to take place.

'One World' continued with a final big event, the Fairtrade and Vintage Fashion Show. 

Three sixth formers gave this account as a press release which speaks for itself.

THREE enterprising sixth formers from Ringwood School are heading a team to put on a green fashion show and information evening at Ringwood Festival. The theme will be ethical choice and will focus on local traders such as Timber, who promote Fairtrade clothing, re-using fashion from second hand or charity shops and promoting the ideas of clothes swap parties and making the public aware of national chains and mail order companies such as The People Tree, who sell ethical items. Abbie Grace, Simon Hookins and Miranda Walter have just completed their first year of A level studies and are involved with the school's highly active Fairtrade Focus Group. "People think Fairtrade is all about tea and bananas," says Abbie. So the team wants to bridge the gap between the school and the community and show people what is on offer locally and globally. Local councillors Christine Ford and Angela Wiseman have shown great interest and are supporting the event.

Simon explains that, as well as promoting the Fairtrade side of Ringwood, they want to show that ethical fashions have moved away from the old hippy image. "It's not all made out of hemp any more!" he said, "and there are some very colourful items for all ages." Miranda also points out that the appeal is right across the board – men, women and especially teenagers and it helps when celebrities such as Emma Watson get involved as she has done with her own line within The People Tree, whose clothing will be featured in the show.

The Fairwear Fashion Show will be held in the main hall at Ringwood School on Saturday 13th July 7.30 – 8.30pm, but there is also an art exhibition at the school the same evening, so visitors are welcome to view the artwork beforehand from 6.30pm or after the show until 8.50pm. Entry is free. "We're not doing this to raise funds," Simon added, "but to change people's awareness."

The account illustrates that this event was entirely student driven, and what a great event it turned out to be!  Students obtained sufficient funding to advertise the event from Ringwood Town Council with whom our students regularly liaise (see above). 

The evening event was planned for not only parents, but also for the general public.  Students carefully sandwiched the show in the middle of the school’s evening art exhibition to maximise the audience. Charity shops gladly supplied the ‘vintage’ and were pleased that several of the garments were sold during the evening. Again, a small action made a difference outside the school. Fairtrade garments were loaned by ‘Timber’ the great ethical store in Ringwood.  Students also obtained clothes from People Tree and Gossypium, and were thrilled to obtain some with the ‘Emma Watson’ name attributed to them. 

A catwalk was created, appropriate music chosen, lighting arranged and models were ‘volunteered’. Thus it was that models of both sexes and from all years between Years 7 and 12, made their short but glitzy appearance!  A Fairtrade cake baked by a parent, together with Fairtrade snacks and Fairtrade wine ended a great summer’s evening of entertainment. We do hope that this event will have made a really significant difference to people’s attitude to clothing and that it will have introduced some people to Fairtrade for the first time.  

A short press release appears here.

Well done to all the team. This was a wonderful end to the year's work.

Beyond recycling  

Alan Lovell with Emma Frost of 1010	Clive Cosby with a student discussion group	Karen Ford of Footprint Friends

New Forest District Council headquarters, Appletree Court in Lyndhurst  was buzzing on Friday 9^th July with the enthusiasm of delegations of young people from several local secondary schools. 

This was the second such event hosted by the Council, following on from the success of the Climate Change conference in 2008. The students were there to update their knowledge of potential future changes in the earth’s climate and how to work towards protecting and maximising the finite resources that our planet offers. They were also there to exchange ideas for securing the future of life on Earth for themselves, their own children and for the millions of species and their habitats that are the foundation of the comfortable lives we in UK lead today. The themes fitted in well with Ringwood School's 'One World' theme for the year.

Beyond recycling. Sana Stephens at the marketplace entrance, with a recycling display

Alan Lovell, High Sheriff of Hampshire, renewable energy business owner and emissary of Al Gore, gave the keynote speech. Gore, former Vice President of the United States , was the first global politician to promote the science of climate change. Alan Lovell transfixed his audience with slides showing the disintegration of thousands of square miles of ice in the Antarctic, receding mountain glaciers, the terrible plight of people in drought-ridden or flood-prone developing countries and the threat to all life of a potential global temperature rise of six degrees.

Alan Lovell, High Sheriff of Hampshire

In a workshop session, local sailor Clive Cosby stunned students with images of the vast quantities of discarded plastic items that form a huge floating island trapped in the Pacific Ocean, and of marine life ensnared in plastic detritus. After explaining that plastic is non biodegradable, he primed students for an anti-plastics campaign. Students from these schools knew about solar photovoltaics but Southampton University’s Electronic Systems and Devices Research Group showed how the group is maximising the potential of very small energy sources, such as vibrations.  Students learnt about piezoelectric generators which employ active materials that generate a charge when mechanically stressed, as well as regenerative braking in modern cars and recovery of heat energy from discarded hot water.

Students were treated to a ‘marketplace’ where, under the welcome shade of a marquee, a dozen local groups and individuals set up stands. Student-designed products from Ringwood School, together with a unique display of recycled products donated by ‘Timber’ of Ringwood and Ringwood and Mountbatten Schools made an uplifting entrance to the marketplace. Students were able to quiz each stallholder and take away valuable information for use in their schools. Going beyond recycling, they learnt about energy saving, electric cars, predicted changes to the local coastline, the New Forest National Park, vegetarianism, sustainable woodcraft, the Transition movement and Hampshire Wildlife Trust. Thanks to the efforts of Davina Staples and Mary Rainbow at NFDC, local food was provided at lunchtime, and NFDC’s bicycle-powered smoothie-maker was a great hit. The marketplace really illustrated how small actions can make a global difference.

A youngster learns about wood turning

The plenary session fell to Emma Frost of the 10:10 campaign which aims to convince Britain to cut its carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.  A high spot for many in the young audience was a fifteen minute presentation from Ringwood School sixth formers. Head Girl, Abigail Grace, and Head Boy Alex Martin were joined by Miranda Walters and Edward Fullick in their own brilliant ‘take’ on climate change and depletion of resources. Finally, Karen Ford’s Footprint Friends challenged everyone to assess their own carbon footprint and make every effort to reduce it.  Her new song, written to promote her WOW! Awards, was sung by all in the Council Chamber as the final item. Again, small actions can make a big difference!

Ringwood sixth formers	Vegetarians	Exhausted!  The end of the plenary session

For the students and visiting staff, the conference had been exciting, inspiring and challenging. The WOW! factor was certainly in the air. The delegates departed on a high, full of good intentions to change the ideas they had generated into worthwhile actions to secure a low carbon future for the Earth, its climate and resources for the coming generations.

Ringwood School has adopted 1 acre of prime coral reef habitat

We have adopted 1 acre of reef in Komodo National Park. This  is both a World Heritage Site as well as a 'Man in the Biosphere Reserve'.  The decision was taken by about 15 students in the wildlife group to adopt a reef which 'cost' thousands of Generation Green points that we have accumulated.  What a brilliant decision, and one made totally by students who could have spent the points on 'Eco bling'.  

Komodo National Park — made up of three rugged volcanic islands — is the last remaining natural habitat of the famed Komodo dragon, of which only 3,000 remain.

In the mid-1990s the Park was on a collision course despite its protected status. Overfishing, blast fishing, overhunting, unregulated tourism development — the park’s life-sustaining resources were being depleted at a rate and scale that simply could not continue without permanent, irreparable loss. Working with in-country partners, a group called 'Save Nature' is helping to protect the spectacular coral reefs that attract tourism income and harbour fish that sustain the region’s residents. The Indonesian government has banned fishing with dynamite, cyanide and gill nets — which indiscriminately strip whole swaths of ocean habitat. It has also banned the use of compressors and steel bars to shatter coral reefs in order to extract abalone. The government has established no-take zones to protect fish spawning areas, giving species room to regenerate and replenish populations even beyond the park’s waters. And, local people are permitted to engage in low-impact fishing for subsistence and commercial take in designated zones. Our help will protect and monitor one of the richest coral reefs in the world, home to sea grass meadows, mangrove forests, sea turtles, whales, dugongs (below) and Komodo dragons.

We have also adopted a chimpanzee this year, and a blue footed booby bird in the Galapagos Islands.

18 students contributed to this survey that was set up by Hampshire in response to the national decline in house sparrows. www.hants.gov.uk/housesparrow

We wished we had received earlier warning of the survey because we could have recruited a lot more students. However, we know that Ringwood is a sparrow stronghold and results showed a healthy population of 65 house sparrows in an approximately 50:50 ratio of males to females. In repsonse to the question, "What are the sparrows doing?" most students responded that they were flying or standing but three students observed preening behaviour. Nests were spotted in a wall cavity and in our sparrow lodge outside detached chemistry.

A report on the findings will be published on Hantsweb later in the Autumn.

Eco Day 2010

Eco Day 2010 took as its focus the idea that we are all inhabitants of one world, a world where there are still sufficient resources for all but one in which there is great inequality.  We have taken 'One World' as our theme throughout the year and it is the focus of our Roots and Shoots projects. This year, we have considered the small and local actions that we have taken as citizens of a global village. We hope that by acting locally we can help to effect some global changes. 

Students were challenged to consider what they could do both globally and locally. After learning some great lessons from a Trading Game, they moved into sixteen different workshop groups run by outside visitors and by school staff. Led by Sara Wood and Laura Ng, some students prepared a local food lunch for visitors, using our own potatoes and vegetables. Another food group made Fairtrade Rocky Road in the afternoon, subsequently packaging it and selling it to staff.

Working with sustainable wood	Penalty shoot out. Alex with African football	Jewellery from waste copper

Theatre Studies students in Years 11 and 12 led an ambitious play in which a possible Armageddon – style future was acted out. The session was filmed and we await the results with some interest!

PE staff played ‘Fairtrade football’ and visitor Adam Skirton introduced the 1-goal campaign, highlighting the difference between football in UK with football for millions in rural Africa. Students made footballs African style. The African theme was taken up by others. For instance, knowing that we will shortly host visitors from Malawi, two African style bag gardens were set up. This also generated £24 for African charity. One group made their own African screen prints, producing a garment from recycled paper, while others made jewellery both from buttons and metal scraps. Metal was just one product used in music teacher Emma Duddle’s workshop. Using ‘junk’ harvested from skips and rubbish bins, Emma created a junk orchestra, capable of giving a performance, in an hour!  Visitor Cliff Lewis from Tools for Self Reliance, together with Richard Whitford, led two groups in making two tool boxes of refurbished tools for different parts of Tanzania. Cliff reports that as he travels over Africa, he has actually seen Jane Goodall Institute vehicles! 

Teachers Justin Davies and Annabel Jenner showed that chemistry could save the world and students were able to create bags from recycled newspaper similar to those made by women throughout the developing world. The glue was created from a natural product available to those in Africa! As a final touch, students learnt how to make biodiesel, thus avoiding the use of fossil fuels.

English teacher Matt Rixon’s group mounted a publicity campaign about the plight of orangutans, threatened by rainforest destruction for palm oil plantations in Borneo. The chocolate industry was heavily scrutinised with some manufacturers coming under fire. Languages, through the medium of a more noisy protest, took the message of global inequality and resource depletion into town. This work will continue next term and two Year 8 students have already mounted a magnificent display.

With a view to improving the ‘local’, two groups created a new deer from willow and another considered biodiversity of our grounds, first enjoying the birds of prey kindly loaned by Liberty’s to former student Louise Fairless. A compariosn was made between the ecosystems in the Ringwood area with those in other parts of the world, such as the grasslands of Africa. Another workshop, led by visitor Tim Cracknell, focussed on sustainable woods, and students were able to create small sustainably sourced wooden objects.

This was probably Ringwood’s most successful Eco Day for many years with many workshops producing tangible outcomes. We hope, for instance, to be able to share some of the ideas and creations with students from Malawi shortly. We also hope to take the 1-goal campaign further so that a 1-goal scarf will be presented to David Cameron.

Our thanks go to the outside visitors and to the staff who made the day so profitable and enjoyable.

Making footballs in the style of African children	The noisy Languages protest starts	Home-made Fairtrade Rocky Road
Tools for Self Reliance: packing tools for Tanzania	Miss Weston starts a group with African screen prints	Mme Ecolo
Making jewellery from old beads, African style	Lunch	One of Liberty's owls

Grow your own

The BBC’s ‘DIG IN’ provided our young Key Stage 3 gardeners with several packets of seeds earlier in the year and youngsters were able to set these up in seed trays one wet April morning. The results were superb with all available window space in three of our science labs taken up with young plants. However, students met a real shortage of growing space so all our potatoes and beans had to be grown in containers. As we are keen to let these young people practise their growing skills, and also had a surfeit of young plants, we set up two ‘vege-tables’ outside the kitchen where canteen manager Sara Wood is able to access the produce for school meals.

FAIRTRADE Football match against Salisbury High

When Bob Wardzinski of Salisbury High School heard that Ringwood was a Fairtrade school, he challenged us to a Fairtrade football match. Two five-a-side teams were chosen from Years 9 and 10, so accompanied by Mr Gill and Gill Hickman, students travelled to Salisbury on July 1^st.

 The girls managed a 0-0 draw but despite valiant attempts, the boys’ team suffered a 2-0 defeat by the Salisbury team.  However, they were brilliant in defeat. Mr Wardzinski remarked, “Your students were magnificent - a real credit to the school!”

The girls' trophies	Ask Mr Gill about this one

The event was set up as a means of raising awareness of Fairtrade in the Salisbury school who with a team of five staff and twelve students, are working towards Fairtrade status. It was certainly successful in that respect: an international ‘World Cup’ atmosphere, with huge Fairtrade tones prevailed. The event was supported by large numbers of staff and students who had made an impressive collection of banners and flags for the event. Fairtrade snacks and drinks were provided throughout the session and these were sponsored by Salisbury Fairtrade group. Students were delighted to be treated to lunch after the match as well. Ringwood supplied the Fairtrade footballs!

Ringwood played in white England strip and Salisbury, in South African yellow. Tops, hand-embroidered with England and South African badges, were provided by Marks and Spencer and were, of course, made in Fairtrade cotton. Sponsorship for this and for a gift pendant, music and the PA system came from Salisbury City Council who constantly back the school in their bid to increase Fairtrade awareness. Trophies were provided by Barchester Green.

As a final touch, much appreciated by the players, everyone was given a beaded bracelet, fairly traded and hand made by women in a South African township.  Ringwood enjoyed a further ten minutes on the pitch, determined to challenge Salisbury to a return match next term. 

We are proud to have helped Salisbury High with their quest to become a Fairtrade School, and to have introduced them to Roots and Shoots.

England!	England	The four captains

Visit to a Carbon Neutral home

Dan and Jane Fish live virtually 'carbon neutral' -almost as carbon neutral as those in rural Africa!  The couple were kind enough to host a visit from an appreciative group of Ringwood KS3 students.  Dan explained to students as they visited the loft that people rarely insulate efficiently and therefore waste huge amounts of energy. The couple’s New Forest house is very heavily insulated. 

 They use the sun's energy to heat their water, generate their electricity and charge the electric G-Wizz car making driving virtually free and carbon neutral.  They can genuinely describe their motoring as solar powered. Students learnt that, just like our photovoltaic system on Wessex, any surplus electricity flows into the National Grid. In the winter they supplement the sun's energy with a wood-fuel stove burning their own surplus timber. The only regular use of fossil fuel is a gas hob for cooking. The quantity of gas used is minute; quarterly bills are typically less than £5. A microwave is used as it can be powered by the electricity generated and it just heats the food, not the rest of the room. The garden has seven deep vegetable beds and a fruit cage and fruit trees which produce much of the fruit and vegetables and salad needed.

A THIRD GREEN FLAG

We are celebrating after learning that RIngwood School has again been awarded the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag. The award recognises the school's continued work in promoting education for sustainability.

As a result of a recent inspection, Ringwood now has three Green Flags from Eco-Schools, thus maintaining its dominance amongst Hampshire schools.  The assessor said she was totally invigorated and enthused by her morning at Ringwood School and told students that their work was outstanding. As a Fairtrade supporter, she showed a sympathetic recognition of the great achievements of the Fairtrade group this year.  She was particularly impressed by the school’s use of clubs and committees, often led by sixth formers, which means that a very large number of students can be involved in particular projects which interest them. 

Well done to the large team involved!

Early morning Birdwatch at Blashford Lakes

Sixteen keen birdwatchers enjoyed an early morning visit to Blashford Lakes before most of their classmates had arrived at school.  Led by Ringwood staff and accompanied by keen ornithologist and trainee teacher Jonathan Hiley, and by scout leader Colin Andrews, students visited three hides where they had opportunity to practise their observational and photographic skills. Woodland birds such as woodpecker, chaffinch and nuthatch delighted students as much as the aquatic species and waders  with their young on the lakes.

Photos to follow!

Life on the ocean wave for Ringwood

On a perfect summer’s day, Ringwood School’s rising eco stars took to the sea to learn about life in Southampton Water.

Fifteen students from Years 7 to 10 spent a day at Southampton University’s National Oceanographic Centre and joined the crew for an exploration of marine habitats on the research ship Callista.

They tested temperature, pH, salinity and light penetration and learnt how this affected all marine life. Then, with the help of the centre’s staff, they collected mud samples to analyse. They discovered this was full of invertebrates.   Plankton were suitably rounded up and caught in a fine mesh net. Students were able to understand the start of marine food chains when startling images of both plant and animal plankton were projected onto a large screen from one of the ship’s microscopes.

When the sea bed was gently trawled, Callista staff caught a number of fish including a superb thornback ray that students could  examine at close quarters. (It was quickly put back into water). invertebrates netted in the sample included crustaceans such as spider crabs, and various molluscs. To students’ delight, a large number of sea squirts were also caught. For most, this was their first experience of this wonderful animal and a great experience of the biodiversity afforded by the floor of Southampton Water!

The visit was designed as a ‘thank you’ for a few of the students who have contributed a great deal to the school’s sustainability programme this year, and particularly those who have worked on the wildlife programme. The visit helped students to obtain a better understanding of the diverse and fragile marine environment.

Butterflies

When Year 7 student Abigail Cleverly brought in a number of butterfly pupae, students were able to experience the magic of insect metamorphosis first hand. Species ranged from Festoon, Map and Swallowtail butterflies to Robin and Chinese Oak Silk moths. As more hatched, students designed and made their own butterfly enclosure to allow more flying space.  

Below: an orange tip butterfly: the first to emerge from its pupa

Bluetits are making use of tour nest box with webcam again. They are roosting at night and periodically visiting by day, making a large and very untidy nest!  There are currently no eggs, but keep watching the box here.

Update

The days of heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures of January may seem a distant memory, but while we humans are quick to forget, the consequences of the harsh winter are still being felt by Britain's birds as they try to raise their families - the BTO's Nest Box Challenge survey will tell us exactly how they've fared. We at Ringwood, are taking part in the on-line Nest Box Challenge survey to help researchers find out just how severe the impact has been.

Over 20,000 nest boxes registered with the BTO's Nest Box Challenge and every box helps BTO  to track the breeding fortunes of our garden birds. The results from 2010 will be of particular interest to scientists, who are predicting a fall in the number of breeding tits as a result of the harsh winter conditions.

We know that the survival rates of smaller bird species, such as the Blue Tit, are lower than those for larger birds. Our breeding pair managed to survive ,  laying at the same time and producing the same number of eggs as last year.  All ten hatched but in the week after hatching, we watched chick after chick die. One week after hatching only one survived.  There were problems until the end because the one surviving fledgling go its foot stuck and had to be cut free by the site manager. Eventually it did fledge successfully.

Our school records  will help the BTO to find out and to predict the fortunes of our nesting neighbours as the climate changes in years to come.  You could consider why the survival rate in our nest box has been so low this year. We think that the cold winter meant that the leaves unfurling on trees were delayed. On these leaves the  caterpillars that the mother fed the young bluetits lived. Thus the cold weather resulted in no caterpillars and no food for baby bluetits.

The story in photos

Our ten fledglings dropped to seven by the end of the second day, and to three by the end of the first week. After that, we were unable to see inside the nest because it was so untidy!  These photos are a few of several hundred screen shots taken by students.

Our story probably  illustrates the sad mismatch that occurs when one species responds to temperure and another responds to light cues. So our parent bluetits recognised increasing daylength as the cue to start egg laying, while the trees that provide their ultimate food source through food chains, responded to temperature. Food was not available at the right time.

As the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch survey recently reported, many of our resident songbirds have already suffered major falls in numbers as a result of the harshest winter for more than 30 years. Look at the national results at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/ and compare with our school results. The main loser of the prolonged cold weather in January was the tiny goldcrest, which at 9cm long, is Britain's smallest bird. Numbers were down by 75% as many failed to survive because of the shortage of insect food. At Ringwood, during our Big School Birdwatch, three goldcrests were sighted, bucking this national trend.

	Britain's smallest bird, the goldcrest               Numbers fell by 75%

Nationally, other small birds, such as wrens, robins and long-tailed tits, also did badly during the cold spell. House sparrows were down by 17%.  But even though numbers are down, their high reproductive rate means population levels should return to normal within two or three years at most. Our own findings in School Birdwatch agree with this with numbers of all small birds well down on last year.

In the longer term, it is predicted that the trend towards milder winters and earlier springs will continue – bad news for the two out of three of our migrant bird species currently in decline. The BTO's Out of Africa campaign has just been launched to draw attention to their plight, reminding us that however bad the weather may seem, the real issue facing our wildlife is climate change.

At Nature's Calendar http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/  you can record and view seasonal events that show the impact of climate change on our wildlife.  Thousands of people record the signs of the seasons where they live. It could mean noting the first ladybird, butterfly or swallow seen in your garden in spring, or the first frogspawn in the school pond (6th March!). You don’t have to be an expert to take part and lots of help is given, including a nature identification booklet that you receive when you register. 

This kind of recording has moved from being a simple hobby to a crucial source of evidence as to how our wildlife is responding to climate change. You do need to register, but that's simple.  These are some of the species to watch out for:

It is agreed by most scientists that global temperatures are rising and it is highly likely that we are responsible. Not surprisingly many people, therefore expect each successive year to be warmer than the last and are disappointed’ when they have to put up with summers like those of 2007 and 2008. But  we have short memories. Every one of the last ten years in the UK has been warmer than the 30-year (1961-90) average, and the summers of 2007 and 2008 were no exception.

The point is that while the world is generally getting hotter, the situation becomes more complicated at a national scale and inevitably we will continue to experience variation in climate from year-to-year. This is well-evidenced by Nature's Calendar records and is most noticeable in autumn.

At the end of March we were delighted to host a visit from Montacute School's sixth form. This is a special school in Poole and they are keen to become a Fairtrade school and an Eco-School. A dozen students who have been most active this year in the school's Fairtrade and sustainability activities arranged a superb programme for the Montacute students. Based in The Hive, Fairtrade food was served while Maisie Jenkinson gave a short presentation of some of the activities our students have taken part in this year. 

Pairs of Montacute students, accompanied by staff and by their Ringwood counterparts then enjoyed a short tour of the school, taking in the two pond areas, reception and, importantly, different tutor group where tutors and some eco Reps were able to describe our recycling schemes. They very much enjoyed a visit to 'The Animal House' where they met with students Ciara Sammut, Andrew Cuff and Connor Ellis for a conducted tour.

Experiences were shared in a discussion session back in The Hive over more Fairtrade tea, coffee and fruit juice before the Montacute students returned to their school. We know that our own students gained as much from the experience as did those from Montacute, and we hope to maintain and build on the link between our two schools.

Fairtrade Tea Dance 

Having obtained Fairtrade status earlier this year, students were keen to share their Fairtrade ideas with the local community. Thus the idea of a Fairtrade tea dance came about. Sixth form students quickly found visitors who were drawn from day centres, care homes and the Conservative Club. Some were individuals known to staff members at the school.

On arriival, visitors were escorted by students to tables decorated with flowers from Mrs Fernandez Lee’s garden and the first Fairtrade cuppa was served. The sixth form common room was decorated with Fairtrade bunting and inflatable bananas. Sixth formers Patrick Howell Day and Abigail Grace then gave a short presentation of the school’s work in Fairtrade, showed what students had accomplished at the school and shared their vision for the future.  While a second cuppa was served, visitors were treated to a variety of excellent dance performances from students in the school. These ranged from solos and duets to group performances by GCSE and BTEC dance students, and were arranged by Miss Priest. 

Afternoon tea followed; cucumber sandwiches prepared by Ms Wood and her team, then goodies produced by the students. All students in the school’s Fairtrade group contributed, and they often baked an item. Our visitors seemed to enjoy their diet ofFairtrade chocolate cake, banana cake, fruit cake, sweets and biscuits. 

School caretaker Mrs Juhkental donated a raffle prize of a fresh Fairtrade fruit basket, and while the final Fairtrade tea and coffee was served, food and crockery were quickly dealt with by student washers up.  A delighted 94 year old lady was invited onto the dance floor by Paddy Howell Day. Others followed as youngsters danced with and the elderly and with each other, and the floor quickly filled.

As the afternoon drew to a close, each visitor was given a tiny parcel of Fairtrade Easter eggs that had been prepared by a team of younger students. Each was carefully labelled with a home-made Fairtrade ‘thank you’ card.    

Many Eco-Schools try to tackle litter as one of their first priorities following their Environmental Review. Ringwood was one.  It is a highly visible issue and one that is easily understood by all ages. A litter free school is very noticeable and can enhance the school’s image in the local community, and it is important to constantly keep on top of the issue. The results of some of our recent (spring term) surveys are downloadable here.

Most students do not CPRE and The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have worked together to produce a new creative and inspiring education pack for schools revealing how litter can easily hurt or even kill wildlife, and the wider damage litter has on our environment. The resource pack  includes facts about litter and photographs that show wildlife injured by carelessly dropped rubbish.  With a forward by  Dr Jake Reynolds, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development, Department for Children, Schools and Families this is worth downloading! 

Download the Pack (15.8MB PDF)

The raised beds cultivated by Years 7 and 8 students were given an overhaul at the end of March. They were dug over by a large and enthusiastic team under the watchful eye of Ms Wood. Fertiliser was added, onions were planted and one bed was sown with a green manure for comparison. Potatoes were planted in containers to save raised bed space. Some of these were provided by New Forest Food Challenge earlier this year and other by the Potato Council. They had been chitted in the science labs.  The grow your own team will meet weekly from now on. 

Some students and staff are taking part in national seed trials and were provided with free seeds and survey forms.

FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 2010

We celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 with another highly successful event in the canteen with all students in the Fairtrade group contributing one item to sell.  Many students and some staff baked cakes and biscuits while others bought a few items. We know that awareness of Fairtrade at the school is now very high indeed and the Fairtrade group itself goes from strength to strength.

Thanks to Sana Stevens of 'Timber' in town, student Helen Willetts was able to create a particularly effective Fairtrade display in reception duing Fairtrade Fortnight. We used this display to promote Fairtrade Fortnight's idea for 2010, the Big Swap. Other students made a presentation for tutor groups and the result was a great deal of swapping with many students pledging to swap, for instance, their usual chocolate for Fairtrade chocolate!

Our March Big Dig was one of the most successful ever.  Eco Reps from all Year 7 and 8 tutor groups came out in force and dug with great energy and enthusiasm. In twenty five minutes, a total of 60 small trees were planted to make a small hedge. All were British native species, sufficiently diverse to encourage wildlife. They include dog rose, hawthorn, blackthorn, wild cherry, birch and elm.

Photos to follow!

Our KS3 wildlife team are part of a European tree project. Led by sixth former Rob Mays, the students are monitoring and measuring six trees in the school grounds and reporting seasonal changes online. Students in schools throughout Europe are making similar records and it is hoped that the research work will provide some insight into the effects of the severe winter that affected much of Europe. Long term records will support existing European research on climate change.

Frogspawn has arrived in the pond and we are keeping a watchful eye for the appearance of Crassula which became a nuisance last year.  Our enthusiastic team should be able to deal with this as it appears!

Our wildlife team will also be taking part in butterfly surveys during the summer and as official BTO recorders, hopes to log the progress of the next box with webcam. Bluetits have already started to bring in nesting material.

EARTH HOUR 

EARTH HOUR UPDATE here

On March 27th 2010, millions of people around the world will turn out the lights for Earth Hour. This awareness movement is intended to get people talking about the importance of reducing human impact on the Earth.  Watch The official Earth Hour 2010 video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FclcMfzjwug

Earth Hour began as a small World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) event in Sydney, Australia. In 2007, 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. The movement was quickly picked up, and the following year was an even bigger event.

In that short time over 50 million people had become aware of Earth Hour, and turned out their lights to save energy and spread awareness in 2008. Even some of the world's most recognizable buildings were dark for Earth Hour, including Rome's Coliseum, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, New York.

In 2009, there were over 74 countries ready to participate in what is now called "Vote Earth" - a stand against global warming. You can help make a difference by reducing your energy consumption on March 27th, between 8:30 and 9:30 pm.

We are PRODUCERS of electricity!

Our long wait for solar panels ended in the first week of February when pv cells were retrofitted onto the roof of the Wessex building.  Although we obtained 50% funding from LCBP early in 2009, matching that funding was not easy!  This building was chosen because its roof faces south, it already has good insulation standards, it is very prominent on the school site and it incorporates double glazed windows .

 The 9.8KWh array has a a predicted energy output of 7,255 kWh/year and should supply the needs of the Wessex building and allow us to export surplus to the National Grid. It should also lead to a reduction in CO₂ of 4.1 tCO₂(eq)/year.

As a result of student campaigns and a Carbon Trust survey, a number of energy efficiency measures for this and other buildings on the site are being investigated.  Investigating the potential of these measures is a valuable learning exercise for the school's student energy team, and we hope that all students throughout the school will benefit from the potential of this project.

RINGWOOD IS A FAIRTRADE SCHOOL!

Below: The Fairtrade steering group 2009-2010

Sixth form students at Ringwood School were treated to a stirring and impassioned speech by local MP, Desmond Swayne, last week. Ringwood School has been awarded official Fairtrade School status by the Fairtrade Foundation, and Mr Swayne was invited into the school to celebrate the achievement and to present the certificate.  Mr Swayne made his commitment to helping producers in developing countries get a better deal clear.  In a rousing speech he described the importance of Fairtrade in supporting those living in poverty without enough money for food, clean water, medicine, books and education.  

To a backdrop of projected images of Fairtrade at Ringwood, prepared by Year 12 student, Vicky, a lively question and answer session followed in which he was quizzed about his own Fairtrade habits, his knowledge of Fairtrade and about practices in the House of Commons. Students learnt that he practises what he preaches and that he buys his own products after church on Sundays.  And yes, he had certainly signed up for The Guardian’s 1010 campaign. In answer to a question from Andrew, Year 10, “Where, Mr Swayne, does Fairtrade come in your list of priorities?” Mr Swayne made it quite clear that it was at the top. The fervour of his argument meant that students were fairly convinced that this was the case. As Ciara, Year 10 student commented, “I am thrilled that the school has got Fairtrade status. Mr Swayne had a lot of energy and was truly inspirational. It was a real pleasure to meet him”.

To achieve Fairtrade status, the school met five criteria, including setting up a Fairtrade School Steering Group. This is ably driven by sixth formers but includes students from all years, so its younger activists were rightly present at this celebration. The school also had to commit to using Fairtrade products within the school, had to write and adopt a school Fairtrade Policy, incorporate Fairtrade into several lessons in different key stages and promote Fairtrade both within the school and to their wider community.

The Five Goals were challenging, but Ringwood has always had a strong tradition of supporting Fairtrade, and students were keen to show that their commitment to Fairtrade is about one of their core beliefs: treating others as you would like to be treated. They intend Fairtrade to go from strength to strength in the school and hope that the award will encourage individuals or groups who may be thinking about forming a Fairtrade group in their community.

This rounds off a great year for Ringwood School’s Fairtrade campaign and is a tribute to the Steering Group and to a range of local people who have been active in supporting Fairtrade both within the school and in the local community.  We have received great support from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Timber in the town of Ringwood. Teachers have successfully incorporated Fairtrade into their lesson plans and the entire school community has supported canteen manager Sara Wood’s Fairtrade Fridays and students’ cake sales. Achieving status as a Fairtrade School is a very proud moment for Ringwood, and this achievement is due to the hard work and dedication of both the student steering group and the staff.

Below left:  sixth form leaders of the Fairtrade Steering Group. Right: Simon accepts the Fairtrade Schools certifcate, signed by Harriet Lamb, from Desmond Swayne.

Account by Maisie Jenkinson, with contributions from SImon, Helen, Jade and Lauren. 

On Monday 18^th January, ten students visited Montacute School in Poole to speak to their Student Council about their interest in achieving Fairtrade and Ecoschool status. We had been invited to the school to share our ideas.  This was sharing good practice with a difference, as Montacute School is a school for children with severe, complex or profound and multiple learning difficulties.

On arrival at the school, we met the deputy head teacher and had a tour around the site. We heard a bit about the many different adults who work at the school, for example physiotherapists and social workers. The deputy head teacher explained that sign language is used as a key method of communication, and we noticed that many notices around school used signs and pictures as well as text. When we met the children themselves, we were struck by their friendliness, and how happy and calm they seemed.  Simon, Ringwood Year 12 student commented, “I found the visit to Montacute School incredibly moving on so many levels. All of the staff and students were so welcoming when we arrived, with one student taking the time to individually shake all of our hands as we entered the classroom, the warmth on a scale that you perhaps wouldn’t feel coming into a classroom at Ringwood School.”  Helen, Year 11 student was also struck by this warmth, “The Montacute visit was a real eye opener. The School Council meeting was amazing because all the students had something to say. What touched my heart was how friendly everyone was especially a post 16 student who came and shook everyone’s hand. If only I could I would have done my work experience there.”

Many students were having their break during our visit and were using role play as shopkeepers and customers to choose their snack. Students take part in many extra-curricular activities and we were inspired and humbled when one wheelchair bound boy told us he had completed his gold Duke of Edinburgh award in France. We visited the sensory room, where students could switch on different lights, sounds and other effects, allowing them to relax and engage with their surroundings. The idea of sitting in this soothing environment for a while was rather appealing!

Lauren, Year 11 said, “I sat in on one of their School Council meetings and contributed to the range of things they discussed such as becoming an Ecoschool. The Montacute School was inspired by us to do this and for that, I am very proud.”

The Student Council meeting was a profoundly interesting experience. It was mostly attended by post-16 students and topics of discussion included feeling safe around the school, and trips that students took into the wider community. We had the chance to discuss our ideas for promoting sustainability and Fairtrade within the school. Particularly popular suggestions were a ‘Meet the Animals’ day, where students could bring in their own pets, and having Fairtrade food at break time. We also suggested having a ‘Big Dig’, like we do at Ringwood, which involves planting trees and other plants in our green area. We concluded by inviting Montacute students to our school and we are really looking forward to their visit, which should be in March.

Everyone took back something slightly different from the day, but I think we all left feeling inspired and moved by the visit. The final comment from Jade, Year 11 summarises our feelings,

“I thought this trip was amazing -  to see how people with such severe disabilities interact with one another and how they communicate. I found the whole experience very humbling and truly fascinating. It has shown me a possible career path into something in this field.”

Below: Montacute School

HELPING RINGWOOD JUNIORS TO 'GREEN UP'

Early in November, as part of our continuing outreach work in sustainability with other schools, a group of Year Seven, Eight and Nine students from Ringwood School joined ‘Eco Warrior‘ students from Ringwood Junior School  in a joint visit to the inspiring Minstead Study Centre near Lyndhurst. (see photo of their sustainable building above)  They were accompanied by Miss Fernandez-Lee who was helped by Year 12 students Robert Mays and Gareth Cork. The day consisted of fun and practical activities to promote sustainable living and to learn how to look after the environment.

Throughout the day, the students were given ideas on how to make their school more eco-friendly. These included gardening, composting and learning about different sources of sustainable energy – generally how to be a ‘good human being’ as Jane and Chris, the staff at Minstead put it!

The whole day was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone including Gareth and I, and we didn’t hold back from getting stuck in!  The day was a great success: centre staff were very helpful and made it a superb experience for all. To find out more about Minstead and what you can do for the environment, visit www.minstead.hampshire.org.uk  

Account by Rob Mays. Photos by Philippa Roberts

Click here to view photos

THE WAVE

Some sixth formers went to London on Saturday December 5th and took part in 'The Wave', a massive demonstration to the government of people's concerns about Climate Change.  Charlie, who took these photos, attended the schools' launch of 1010 (see below). He described the event as 'amazing'. others described it as 'awesome' and 'overwhelming - the most exciting event in my life this year'.

Click on the photo below which links to a web album of photos of the day.

The Wave

This group of students created sand and dust pictures. They gave important environmental messages with the sand and dust medium deliberately  chosen to represent the possible effects of climate change. They were sent to Ed Miliband on the eve of his visit to Copenhagen

FAIRTRADE CAFE

After Ringwood School’s major involvement in helping to achieve Ringwood town’s Fairtrade status in 2007, the Fairtrade steering group (formed Sept 09) decided it would be beneficial to attempt to gain fair-trade status for the school.  Fairtrade producers, above all, would gain.  There are five criteria to fulfil in order to become a fair-trade school, ranging from including Fairtrade in the curriculum, to showing a genuine support for Fairtrade for a prolonged period of time.

Having been inspired by the Traidcraft speaker mentioned in a previous  Ringwood in the News, the Fairtrade group hosted a fair-trade café along with competitions, games and a quiz! Many students and staff came and enjoyed a huge variety of Fairtrade treats, even including ice-cream and banoffee pies! Whilst the canteen was overflowing with customers, students were also enjoying the fun games in the hall. The quiz provided a bit of a challenge and interest, with questions such as ‘Name two flavours of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream which can be bought fairly traded’.

Two Fairtrade chocolate cakes, baked by Tanisha and Jade were sliced and sold to staff after the event and remaining produce was sold by more volunteers at lunchtime.  In terms of money raised, the event surpassing all previous events.  More importantly, it raised further awareness for Fairtrade produce, showing that often the price difference of Fairtrade versus non- Fairtrade items is insignificant. The event would not have achieved such success  without the mass home-baking and volunteers on the stalls, so many thanks to the students, staff and relatives who helped with this. Thanks too, to Waitrose and Sainsbury for meeting a last minute request for Fairtrade banana donations.

Students have been particularly active in their support of these two supermarkets in their policy of selling 100% Fairtrade bananas and sent a letter signed by large numbers of students to Desmond Swayne MP calling for government action in the current ‘banana wars’.

Overall, the event was a great success and the Fairtrade steering group is very excited at the prospect of organising more events in the future.

Account by Simon Hookins

Photos by Vicky Leung, Year 12

GREEN STUDENTS DIG DEEP FOR NATIONAL TREE WEEK

As the school expands, trees sometimes have to be removed.  This year saw particularly sad losses so November’s Big Dig, organised by Biology Principal Students, students Rob Weeks and Jack Campion, has special significance. The Dig was timed to coincide with the start of National Tree Week.  On an unusually bright and sunny morning, Eco Reps from Years 7 to 10 planted a total of fifty native British trees in half an hour!  Trees were obtained from various sources and we are particularly grateful to the members of staff who donated small trees from their gardens. Each student was given a small booklet about trees from the Woodland Trust.  

APPLES AND PEARS

Pinders Plants of Ringwood supplied 250 superb fruit trees that were planted across the forest on 5^th December as part of the record breaking attempt. The school took part on Friday 4^th December, but again could not count its efforts as part of the record breaking attempt.  Thanks to the efforts of Richard Whitford and Ken Ewence, a neat line of apple and pear trees were quickly planted.  A further four trees were planted in the allotment area. Students, their parents and other staff planted their free trees at home on Saturday.

The date was deliberately chosen to coincide with ‘Tree O Clock’ and with the last weekend of National Tree Week. Trees were funded by the New Forest Food Challenge group who are particularly active in some parts of the New Forest. Details appear on their website, http://newforesttransition.ning.com/ They are keen to form a group in Ringwood: people interested  should sign up through  the website.  

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by both climate change and the diminishing availability of hydrocarbons, but joining 1010 makes Ringwood School part of the solution. The aim of 1010 is to reduce carbon emissions by 10% in one year, although even 3% will be celebrated!  By doing so, Ringwood School should be cutting costs while, at the same time leading the way on one of the defining issues of our age.

Ringwood’s young people know that they will be left to pay the bill for current environmental damage unless swift and effective action is taken now. Schools, colleges and universities are at the forefront of this drive, and signing up to 10:10 means that Ringwood students are blazing the trail towards a low-carbon and cost-cutting future.  

Our third lunchtime talk of the term was given by Sue Palma from the New Forest National Parks Authority. Sue and her colleague Amy, showed students slides of the plants and animals of the New Forest and then moved on to the challenge of climate change. Students learnt how species might not be able to adapt and heard that some would probably not be able to adapt and survive, especially wetland species like  redshank. after considering the effect on commoners and on the Forest ponies, cattle and deer, students were told that it wasn't all doom and gloom. They were given lots of ideas for individual action and they very much enjoyed this powerful quote:

"If you don't believe something small can make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito in the room."

    ANIMAL AID TALK

When representatives from Animal Aid gave a lunchtime talk, students certainly didn’t expect a vegetarian feast. The vegetarian food company, Redwood, donated burgers, sausages, ‘chicken’ pieces and ‘fishfingers’.  All were cooked by Ms Wood and her team in the canteen and were beautifully presented ready for students to sample.  She also made some samples available in the canteen for those students who could not get into the talk.

Students voted fish fingers and chicken pieces the tastiest. It showed that vegetarian food does not have to be boring, and as was explained later, if we ate a little less meat, there would be more food to go round for the rest of the world’s population.

Janet Oddy, one of the speakers, explained that Animal Aid campaigns peacefully against all forms of animal abuse and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle.  She herself rescues abused farm animals. She used short extracts from a DVD to illustrate the range of the charity’s work.  The talk was very well attended by staff and students, and issues of cruelty were handled with sensitivity. Staff ensured that the case for meat-eating was also presented to students who all agreed that the entire talk was extremely thought provoking.  Some returned a few days later to pick up the debate again after school.

POULNER JUNIORS VISIT MINSTEAD STUDY CENTRE

The focus of the school’s outreach work in sustainability has now turned to our feeder junior schools, and students of Poulner Junior School enjoyed a visit to the inspirational Minstead Study Centre with five Ringwood students.  We know that Minstead has a real effect on all those who visit! 

Robert Weeks and Jack Campion (Year 13), Greg Segal and Hannah Fox (Year 8), and Max Silver (Year 7) all lent a hand with Poulner's youngsters.  The following account has been written by Greg Segal.

POULNER AND RINGWOOD SCHOOL GO TO MINSTEAD!

On Thursday October 1st Poulner’s Eco council and a few Year 7 and 8 Eco reps from Ringwood School went to the amazingly environmentally friendly Minstead Study Centre. After arriving and getting into groups we went off with our extremely knowledgeable, guide. We went around the colourful and sustainable gardens plucking leaves, flowers, and seeds (don’t worry, they were going to die off before winter anyway). We were allowed to eat them - many of them being very spicy, some tasting like liquorice, and others just plain leafy.

 After that, we made a massive 'chocolate cake' made up of different ingredients!  Chris Townsend was only joking as we found it was made up of all the materials that we could use in compost.  

 We talked about how we could be more Eco friendly to our school, community, and essentially our whole planet!

We then had various talks on what we could and could not recycle, what we recycle at school, and how we could improve our school by recycling more! As our school recycles lots, this was especially good for Poulner students.

Lastly, we went to the super eco-friendly solar-panelled and sustainable house. It was really cool! It was made up of entirely sustainable or reused materials such as a marmoleum floor, linen curtains and lots of local wood As well as that, it had solar panels, energy meters, toilets that use brown rain water, energy efficient taps and lights, and lots more stuff to make our planet greener! We were really impressed.

 In the afternoon, Ringwood students helped the Poulner children with their forward planning as they are aiming for an Eco-Schools Green Flag!  We hope that we can help them to achieve this.  Overall this was a very interesting and fun day and it should benefit the students and schools of those who went immensely!  

FAIRTRADE

The Eco Group has organised Fairtrade events in school for the past five years, but this term, Fairtrade has become an important focus for students as they work on the Global Dimension ‘doorway’.  A new Fairtrade steering group, made up of students from all year groups, now leads work for the year.  Stephanie Edwards, chairperson of the Eco and sustainability group for the year gave a short presentation of Fairtrade to students in assembly, and this was followed by the first big event of the year, a lunchtime talk from Brian Wilkins of Traidcraft.

TRAIDCRAFT TALK

Mr Wilkins provided an interesting insight into the origin and work of Traidcraft After a short ‘”What do you know already” quiz, he explained that ‘Fairtrade’ is an umbrella term and that Traidcraft is UK's leading fair trade organisation.

Students enjoyed a few slides and listened to Mr Wilkins’ account of his Fairtrade experiences in India before leaving their seats to examine some of the many items that are produced by Traidcraft. These included not only food, but textiles, toys, clothing and cosmetics. Students were delighted to hear that they could buy items then and there!

Traidcraft gummy bears, Divine chocolate, dried fruit and the new Fairtrade Cadbury’s Dairy Milk were enjoyed by a large and appreciative audience!

OTHER FAIRTRADE NEWS

We have a  new Fairtrade steering group for 2009 -2010 who, with three meetings,  have organised a great deal in a short space of time!  They have

• Written a Fairtrade policy (We have never had one of these)
• Undertaken surveys of student awareness of Fairtrade (that we haven't done for sometime). Maths will process the data.
• Done surveys of staff use of Fairtrade
• Asked the canteen about their use of Fairtrade
• Interviews with teaching staff to find out if they are teaching about Fairtrade
• Planning for future events

Ms Wood continues to offer FAIRTRADE FRIDAYS on the last Friday of each month.

The first Fairtrade Friday deliberately coincided with our speaker from Traidcraft!

GARDENING

Freshers’ Fair showed the huge interest in the current ‘Grow Your Own’ movement. The Eco Group’s raised beds normally remain unused during the winter months but thanks to Ms Wood, and Ciara Sammut and Connor Ellis, they have been planted in September with fast growing salad crops and winter vegetables. Last summer’s onions broke all records with staff and students enjoying our pesticide free produce throughout September (photos of our 2008 late summer's harvest are shown below). Some of these vegetables were served in the school canteen, some were taken home by students and lots of onions and shallots were sold to staff.

Biodiversity was the first area we worked on when we set out to become an EcoSchool. We have always undertaken biodiversity surveys of certain habitats in the school grounds - some informal and some formal. Year-on -year records have been maintained.

Last year we lost our oldest and most diverse pond due to building work on site together with a little associated wetland and meadow. We have created new ponds and work shows that biodiversity is slowly increasing (SImpson's Diversity Index = 4.71). However, random sampling of hedges, trees and shrubs, all vital for habitat, show biodiversity is actually falling. Most of this is due to building and development.