SUSSED

Well done to Milford Pre-School who obtained their Eco-Schools Green Flag in December. The school met all criteria for a Green Flag with flying colours; no mean feat with children of pre-school age. The youngsters met with the Green Flag assessor and certainly knew what it was all about. They could point out their Eco noticeboard and Eco Code, and they could talk about the activities in which they’d taken part. All were carefully chronicled in scrapbooks by Sarah Rix. Children were able to show the assessor round the grounds, pointing out their growing area, their Forest Schools area and their ‘birding’ area near the school. Children’s knowledge and understanding of wildlife is often outstanding, the result of Sarah Rix’s own enthusiasm and ability to engage children’s and her adult supervisors’ interest.

Work on Energy is mandatory for any Green Flag school and the Milford children had done this with style. They reminded each other to turn lights off, and messages went home too! They had carried out simple experiments by ‘playing’ with energy: energy toys had been used to good effect and children had even monitored the heating effect of the sun. In the summer they even made a solar cooker and in November they learnt about climate change through play. Children contributed to ‘Postcard to Paris’ and one child, Rafe, won a prize for his postcard!

The school’s third topic area was recycling and waste. From a position of zero recycling, the pre-school now proudly recycles and repurposes a vast array of goods from bottle tops to yoghurt pouches, from batteries to postage stamps, from paper to old pens – nothing is wasted and children not only understand the purpose of recycling, they take the message home!