Prior's Court's young people are being
empowered to make a difference to the
natural environment in which they live.
Prior's Court has begun working towards becoming an EcoSchool, securing bronze status in early March.
Any type of school can join Eco-Schools, but due to the
complexity of the conditions the young people at Prior's
Court are affected by, members of staff have produced
adapted methods to meet the criteria to achieve Eco-Schools
targets, as to meet the needs of the young people.
This has included:
• Providing personalised methods of communication to
support young people to independently take on tasks
such as recycling and litter-picking.
• Creating worksheets using PECS to reinforce learning
about green activities and help make decisions.
• Producing Eco-Schools themed activities on-site, if our
young people would struggle to otherwise engage with
them. For example, using our Virtual Reality headsets to
explore the marine theme of Eco-Schools.
Nine Prior's Court young people have also formed an EcoSchools committee, supported by staff members, with an
environmental review of the Prior's Court site completed by
our young people.
Looking to achieve Eco-Schools status came out of a desire
for Prior's Court to be more green, with a group of staff
members also meeting regularly. This has led to thousands
of plants and trees being planted on-site; installing more
recycling bins and food waste caddies; and removing plastic
bottles from staff vending machines. Furthermore, around
22,000 sheets of paper per month are being saved, thanks to
our Prior Insight big data system.
Nickie Dunphy, Prior's Court Purchasing Manager who has
led our green initiatives, said: "Our fundamental aim for
the young people we support is to give them the tools to be
as independent as possible and that often means thinking
deeply about how we do things. This has been the case with
our Eco-Schools ambitions.
"We are already seeing the benefits of our approach as our
young people - both those on the Eco-Schools committee
and not - are truly engaged with the tasks at hand and have
been hugely enthusiastic in their efforts. This is testament
also to the dedication of our staffing team.
"We have reached the bronze stage but this is just the
beginning - we want to reach Eco-Schools Green Flag status
and make a real difference to the environment."
For more information about Eco-Schools, go to
eco-schools.org.uk.
/priorscourt
Bronze recognition for green efforts