Over the summer, we were delighted to have our Green Flag status renewed, thanks to the efforts of last year’s Eco-Committee. Eco-Schools, who award this coveted prize, praised the enthusiasm of NCS pupils and the embedding of eco-awareness across our school curriculum. 

Michaelmas saw the inauguration of the Sustainability Club as a lunchtime enrichment activity. The boys of Year 5 thought about the wider world by looking at the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Earthshot Prize. At a more local level, we welcomed Anna Railton, Oxford City Council Cabinet Member for Climate Justice, who spoke to us about decarbonisation projects in the city. We also carried out a recycling survey, a playground litter-pick, made eco-friendly bird houses and vegan, nut-free bird feeders, and we designed options for the playground planter. Congratulations to Olly and Emil for their creative ‘tropical’ proposal. 

We produced a bumper edition of our annual eco- magazine, the Eco-nomist, which featured facts, essays, biographies, puzzles, posters and more! The Eco-Committee led the way during ‘Switch Off Fortnight’ in November, monitoring electricity usage throughout the week and issuing reminders to switch off lights in unused rooms around the school. Our efforts saw a drop in electricity usage of 210kWh across the fortnight. 

In Hilary, we welcomed Year 2 members to the Eco- Committee meetings. Sustainability Club took part in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch on the school playing fields, with woodpigeons, crows and gulls being the most commonly-spotted birds. Boys also conducted an indoor plant survey, and to celebrate the SHTEAM Week theme of water, made water-efficient terraria out of recycled food jars (which are still going strong!). The Eco-Committee were excited to reopen the Eco- Shop, with new items including seed paper, recycled stationery, and plantable pencils. Many thanks to the boys in Years 5, 7 and 8, who have run the shop so efficiently. 

At the end of Hilary, we marked Food Waste Action Week. Members of the Eco-Committee weighed our food waste at the end of lunch each day; with just a little more awareness, we sustained a decrease in wasted food across the week. In the last few days of term, a number of boys helped to recycle food tins and the pans from the old kitchen, converting them into plant pots. We were very grateful to the NCSPA for a generous grant, which enabled us to achieve one of our annual targets of ‘greening’ the school by placing plants in classrooms and communal spaces throughout the buildings. This was also supported by a generous donation of spider and aloe vera plants from the Kudo family. 

In Trinity, Sustainability Club worked on collaborative projects, which showed off the Year 8 boys’ ingenuity. These included designing a sustainable city using the Townscaper app, making a miniature greenhouse out of plastic bottles and fruit containers, designing a building with living walls, and composing a hanging basket for the playground. A further generous grant from the NCSPA enabled us to put into action the tropical theme for the outdoor planter, which is now replete with a variety of ferns and a verdurous Fatsia japonica; boys in Years 6, 7 and 8 enjoyed learning how to plant each item carefully in the May sunshine. At the time of writing, we are working on plans for supporting our eco-charity during Charity Week, which is the Woodland Trust. We will also mark Walk to School Week to promote sustainable transport. We look forward to coming up with more exciting initiatives next term! In the meantime, why not do something at home to mark Plastic-Free July? 

Congratulations to the following boys for their winning entries in the eco-photography competitions over Christmas (winter theme) and Easter (spring theme): Nicky (Year 2), Finn (Year 3), Rufus (Year 4), Nicolas (Year 5), Alex (Year 7) and Thomas H (Year 7)