Achievements & Plans

Do you ever feel powerless? 
 
Especially when confronted by problems the size of climate breakdown, plastic pollution and wildlife decimation? Us too – but getting involved in our work and campaigns is a great way to begin to take on these planetary emergencies.
 
There are loads of ways in which you can get involved! From something as simple as attending a meeting or supporting a (Re)Love Our Stuff sale, to something as big as leading a campaign or running an event, your involvement is invaluable to our work, and any time or energy you can give is greatly appreciated.
 

Students and Teachers:

The best way to get involved is to come to one of our meetings – every Wednesday lunchtime at 1pm in Room 31. There, you can find out how you can get involved, or suggest your ideas for new projects and campaigns. Alternatively, if you know you want to be involved with a specific branch of Environmental Society, such as Eco-Warriors or the Biology Garden, Recycling, then you can get stuck in straight away with those.

Parents, governors and members of the wider school community:

Support from the wider school community is critical to our success, and any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Here are some ideas:

• Could you be a representative on our committee, bringing in new perspectives, supporting core projects and suggesting your ideas?
• Could your skills in advertising help us reach more people, more effectively, with our campaigns?
• Could your skills in teamwork and leadership help us be a more successful group?
• Does your organisation specialise in green technology or youth engagement?
• Could your business sponsor an event, a raffle or a fundraiser?
• Could you come to speak at an event, or run a workshop?
• Would your charity/NGO be interested in partnering with us on a campaign, or piloting a schools’ programme?
• Could your gardening skills help develop our school grounds?
• Could your knowledge of investment and finance enable us to run a community energy project, such as getting solar panels for the school?

The more people on board, the further and faster we can make change.
We can’t wait for you to join us!
 
Sam Gee and Rohan Selva-Radov
 

If we don’t act today, it will be too late to react tomorrow 

St. Olave’s Environmental Society would like to offer you the opportunity to purchase school branded, reusable water bottles for the price of £3.50. The bottles will be available in the four St. Olave’s house colours and help to alleviate the issue of plastic waste and litter around the school.

As a result of the work of Environmental Society and through initiatives such as this, the School has been able to hugely reduce its environmental impact. All money raised from this sale will help to further worthy environmental causes within the school.

If you wish to purchase a water bottle, payment should be made by our on-line system, sQuid: 

sQuid login

Should you experience any problems connected with the on-line system, please do not hesitate to contact the Finance Department by email and they will assist you with your query.financeoffice@saintolaves.net

Looking to next year, Environmental Society is keen to build on the success of our most recent innovation of a school-wide EnviroBlog  showcasing the best work of students and staff about the environment, with more submissions of articles and blog posts from anyone within the school community, on all things environmental.

So far, we have covered topics as diverse as “Why learning a language could help save the planet” to the impact of climate change on women and girls. Alongside this, we plan to hold more talks and debates throughout the academic year, continuing with our collaborations with other societies and a (Re) Love Our Stuff Competition.

Journey to becoming Plastic Clever and the revitalisation of the Biology Garden.

Working closely with the caterers in the canteen, we are helping the school become ‘Plastic Clever’, following the initiative set up by UK charity Kids Against Plastic, with the introduction of wooden cutlery and reusable food containers among other improvements to the layout of the canteen and promotion of more environmentally conscious ways to eat at school. 

Journey to becoming Plastic Clever and the revitalisation of the Biology Garden in 2019. 

Working closely with the caterers in the canteen, we are helping the school become ‘Plastic Clever’, following the initiative set up by UK charity Kids Against Plastic, with the introduction of wooden cutlery and reusable food containers among other improvements to the layout of the canteen and promotion of more environmentally conscious ways to eat at school.  

The recently installed Generation Juice machines in the Small Hall were overwhelming well received and there was support from the canteen for reducing single-use plastic in food packaging. 

We hope to continue to work closely with The Pantry to the environmental impact of the canteen. This will include the use of our new food waste composter and planting vegetables for use in the kitchen.

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

The greatest achievement in the area of waste this academic year has been the reinstatement of the school recycling system, which we have been without for almost two years. With fortnightly external collections, the new system will allow us to drastically reduce the environmental impact of the school.

Over the past decade, the school has utilised several recycling schemes to reduce its impact on the environment. The initial, paper-only recycling system, rescinded in 2016, was upgraded to a Dry Mixed Recycling program with fortnightly external collections in 2018, due to the campaigning of keen Environmental Society members who wanted to cut down on the volume of waste going to landfill.    

Due to projects such as the Big Battery Hunt, the school is now able to recycle other materials including batteries and ink toners. The Environmental Society also distributed green recycling bins around the school grounds in 2020 for cartons, sandwich boxes and other materials to easily separated for recycling whilst pupils are outside. Green boxes in every room of the school hold Dry Mixed Recycling, which is emptied into larger external green bins for collection.   

The Environmental Society is currently researching other recycling schemes that could reduce the impact that the school’s waste has on the environment. Recently, Zero-Waste Boxes and Terracycling projects have been explored. In addition, a fresh campaign to recycle more is being launched in the new school year.   

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

Our dedicated team of Year 7 and 8 ‘Eco Warriors’ is integral to the functioning of the recycling system, transferring waste from internal recycling boxes across the school to external recycling bins on a weekly basis. It’s a great way for students in the lower school to participate in a process that helps keep the school running smoothly. Want to get involved? Speak to Rohan Selva-Radov (9N) or Miss Benham. 

This was a successful project that ran before the 2020 lockdown. Teams of dedicated 7 and 8 ‘Eco-Warriors’ played an integral role in ensuring that the school’s recycling system ran smoothly. It not only helped younger students to get involved in the society in a hands-on and simple way but gave them a chance to volunteer at school. This scheme has created many long-term and hard-working Environmental Society members.  

We are in the process of relaunching this scheme, expanding the project to include clothing, battery and stationery recycling. 

We are also aiming to introduce Eco-Warrior community litterpicks. 

Perhaps most importantly, through all of this, we continue to seek to educate the school community and raise awareness about environmental issues surrounding waste and the importance of reusing and recycling. 

Josh Selfridge
 

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

We have the privilege of having access to extensive and beautiful grounds, and we are dedicated to making them the best that they can be – both for students and for nature.

Participating in the Freshwater Habitat Trust's citizen science project by testing the Biology Pond for nitrate and phosphate pollution levels. Our Biology Garden has seen huge improvements over the past few years, and, thanks to the great work of our many volunteers, is the valuable educational and ecological space it ought to be. The pond, once covered completely with algae and filled with leaf sludge, is now in a much better condition – so clean that it can now support several species of newts and frogs. The soil beds have also been totally rejuvenated, and now have many plants growing there, such as sunflowers, canon went, wildflowers, peas and radishes. It is already a much better resource for pollinators, which is especially important due to their recent decline, and with new beds being uncovered with every week that passes, its progress will certainly continue into the future.

As well as this, the garden has recently started receiving food waste from the canteen to be composted. The compost not only provides us with fertiliser, allowing the garden to be completely organic, but also creates the perfect habitat for many animals such as worms and reptiles.

I have loved having the opportunity to participate in this process, and the tangible advancements we have made fill me with hope of what is to come. 

UPDATE: Unfortunately, during Covid, we were unable to care for the Biology Garden and we will need to revitalise it. However, with the help of Tesco community project fundraising and some renewed enthusiasm, we have been able to raise money for a new food composter and hope to revitalise the Biology Garden again in the coming year.

Frank Shrimpton

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

Throughout this academic year we have worked hard to make sure that we could minimise the amount of litter we had on our school grounds as much as possible – with around 1000 pupils coming in every day this would inevitably be quite a challenge!

Over the last few years, Environmental Society has worked hard to ensure that litter on the school grounds was minimised as much as possible. The school’s pupils, numbering over 1000, have cooperated with the Environmental Society. After increasing the number of bins around the school, students have made sure to responsibly dispose of their waste.  Every classroom has general waste and recycling bins. These bins are regularly emptied and waste going to landfill is minimised through recycling schemes in place.   

In April 2019, Environmental Society organised a Great British Spring Clean event (part of Keep Britain Tidy), to reduce the amount of litter on the school grounds and raise awareness of the levels of litter around the school site. Several eager students took part and managed to collect an impressive 18kg of litter in just 25 minutes!   

Nam Le and Ojas Tiwari
 

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

Throughout this academic we have worked hard to make sure that we could minimise the amount of litter we had on our school grounds as much as possible – with around 1000 pupils coming in every day this would inevitably be quite a challenge!

In April 2019, The Environmental Society organised a Great British Spring Clean event (part of Keep Britain Tidy), to reduce the amount of litter on the school grounds and raise awareness of the levels of litter around the school site. We were delighted by the number of eager students who took part, and managed to collect an impressive 18kg of litter in just 25 minutes. all helping to protect wildlife and our school grounds ! 

Yet another project that we have facilitated was the planting of approximately 600 trees around the school site.

Just before Christmas break 2018, students in Years 7 and 8 took to the fields with their shovels and saplings, in an afternoon off timetable led by the English Faculty, and now the trees are doing very well, with many already producing leaves.

In several years' time, these will have grown into larger bushes and trees – the perfect habitat for animals, especially birds, and also doing our bit to help combat some of the larger issues such as climate change and pollution that our generation faces.

Nam Le and Ojas Tiwari
 

Organised by Environmental Society, 25 Olavian students took part in the national Great British Spring Clean, collecting around 18kg of litter in 25 minutes, 

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

The Environmental Society will be organising their (Re) love our stuff competition once school resumes. 

It is imperative that we reuse and repurpose items that we may otherwise throw away or replace. The Environmental Society has organised many initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of not throwing away items that could be beneficial to the owner, or someone else.  

During the 2020 lockdown, The Environmental Society announced an upcycling competition.

Students were encouraged to use old items from around their home to repurpose into something useful and creative.

We received several entries from enthusiastic students.  

We also worked closely with the Art and Design Department to launch a Favela competition that same year. Year 7s were tasked with building Favela models out of many usually wasted materials including old sweet-wrappers, cardboard boxes, and yoghurt pots. The best entries were displayed on a colourful board in the foyer and the winners earned housepoints for their respective houses.  

In addition, most recently, the Environmental Society has been involved in Second-hand Textbook Sales. Students and various school departments donated large numbers of used and unwanted textbooks, which would have been thrown away, to Environmental Society. These textbooks have been sold to new students in several sales throughout the school year, giving students a very reasonable price for textbooks and raising money for the society’s projects. However, most importantly, it has helped the school community to learn the importance of reusing and re(loving) our stuff.  

In 2023, Environmental Society launched its “EcoSoc SwapShop” where students donate and trade clothes and reading books, promoting a circular economy. We aim to collect, swap and sell otherwise unwanted items at reasonable prices to the people within our school community. Profits will go towards funding projects run by the Environmental Society. Students that donate three or more items of clothing or books will receive a token which they can use to get one free item at the sale.  

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.

2020's eagerly anticipated cross-Bromley Climate Conference, was sadly postponed due to the social distance measures in place at the time.

However, we have been undeterred in our enthusiasm, and plan to hold the event in the next academic year, whether this April or next, once again on the anniversary of Earth Day. With this conference, and our Green Flag renewal, on the horizon, there has never been a better time to get involved – to be a part in generating change. 

St. Olave’s was able to achieve one of its first ever environmental accreditations in July 2018 where we proudly achieved the Eco Schools Silver Award. This was a vast achievement especially as it had only been 2 years since the formation of St. Olaves’ Environmental Society. The Silver Award’s format is like the Green Flag Award where we needed to focus on specific topics and help keep the school ‘informed and involved’. Examples include ‘Switch off fortnight campaign’ as well as the use of the Biology Garden. 

One of the key highlights of the Biology Garden was installing batboxes, nestboxes, hegdehog highways and three RSPB bird boxes. We also enjoyed planting wildflowers, and coordinating a group of about 15 students in Year's 10 and 11 completing their Duke of Edinburgh volunteering by conserving the Biology Garden, with us offering lunchtime sessions four times a week. In addition, we developed a lesson plan that gave Year 10 GCSE biologists the opportunity to sample the nitrate and phosphate pollution levels in the Biology Pond using testing kits from the Freshwater Habitat Trust. The work of the Year 10 volunteers enabled us to achieve an incredible 95% reduction in the levels of those two key pollutants.  

The Green Flag Award is a prestigious acknowledgment of our school’s ecological achievements, where St. Olaves must submit an application to the Eco Schools Programme, covering a variety of topics showcasing our environmental developments within school.

We have been very fortunate that St. Olaves has been very successful in this process, where last year we received a distinction for our application (the highest of honours). This wouldn’t be without the hard work of the society and the teachers involved, who helped set up and approve a plethora of initiatives. To submit a successful application, we had to consider three broader environmental topics and focus particularly on these areas. For example, last year we focused on the topic ‘waste’ meaning we were able to launch St. Olaves’ first batch of reusable water bottles to be sold to the whole school. Furthermore, we continued to support and encourage our successful team of Eco-warriors, who volunteer to help collect/recycle multiple school room's paper waste every Monday.

The Green Flag Award application process also asks us questions like ‘Why did you join the Eco-Committee?’, ‘How your Eco-Schools work has benefitted their child?’. As a result, as a society we try our best to make the eco-committee a place where people feel like they can be heard with an official meeting every half term. So whilst some can argue that the Green Flag Award is a long process which requires a lot of hard work, at the same time it's an award which is rewarding, gratifying and fulfilling. Especially as we know this award shows the school's merits as we try and build a happier, healthier, greener St. Olaves. 

Last academic year, due to our transport surveying work, we were able to achieve the STARS TFL Bronze Award. This award is a great achievement.  

This year, we are once more participating in the TFL STARS Challenge to encourage sustainable travel in the school community. The students who take part will achieve a Bronze Student Accreditation from SSAT. This work will contribute to our Eco-Schools Green Flag Application and feature presentations on travel safety and sustainability and an Active Travel Week. 

In 2022, we were able to secure a grant which helped us introduce four EV charging points on the school grounds.

The charging points are managed, maintained and operated by Zest, which is a charging infrastructure specialist. Installed next to our new All-Weather Pitch, the facilities are open to parents, visitors and teachers.

This project has helped us to provide more value to the community and demonstrates the schools readiness to embrace modern technology.  

Minutes of our meetings will be published here in due course

If we refuse to reuse, it’s the Earth we abuse.