The green flag is a prestigious international environmental award. It shows that a school is committed to the highest standards in environmental education and management.

The Eco-Schools programme has the purpose of encouraging action for the environment within schools.
As Sandbank collected its latest flag – to add to the first, which was awarded in 2005, and the second, earned in 2007 – head teacher, Mrs  Joni Halls, outlined the practical ways in which school pupils and staff had embraced the Eco Schools concept.
Addressing pupils, Mrs Halls  began: “We started our journey a whole year before you arrived at the school, and you are the first group to follow the Eco Schools project through your entire time here. In 2002, we got a bronze certificate, and the next year, it was a silver certificate, and we received our first green flag in 2005.”
Mrs Halls congratulated the children on their work in recycling; keeping the school  premises tidy; saving energy and water; learning about renewable energy and encouraging wildlife around the school – amongst many other initiatives.

Celebrating the occasion, the children sang two uplifting hymns, while the Reverend Joe Stewart told the story of his upbringing and his own mother’s approach to recycling: “Nothing was wasted,” he said. “Even clothes and jelly (jam) jars were recycled in those days.”
He added: “God created the universe and the world, and we have been given a very special responsibility to look after the environment.
“I am delighted that Sandbank Primary School is eco-friendly, as it were, and is looking after the planet.”

Also present was Councillor Bruce Marshall, who reminded pupils of the importance of remembering the planet when shopping for food: “always try to buy food that is in season,” he suggested.
“Just think about the strawberries you get in the shops just now. They will have come half way around the world into the supermarkets here.”

Mrs Halls concluded by saying: “We will be working hard over the next eighteen months to gain our fourth and final green flag, and we are hoping to get our very own clothing recycling bank.”
One of the well-rehearsed songs belted out by the Sandbank pupils contained the line “It’s up to us”. That might be true, but with a little help from Eco Schools, that burden might become just a little easier to bear – and perhaps even a little fun.