Events and News

Past Events and Press

Reviews and reports about our past events, case studies about how we have helped schools to become more sustainable and links to news articles featuring schools MEEN has worked with.

News

 Eco Schools Newsletter

Manchester City Council publish an eco schools newsletter which has information on activities, events and resources to help schools become more eco friendly download a copy March 2013 Eco Schools Newsletter.pdf

Looking for tree-mendous projects!

 The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) is searching for the most inspirational educational projects that promote learning about trees in an area which includes Greater Manchester for the first time.

Entry to the RFS Schools Award 2013 is free and there are prizes of Ј1000 for the winner and Ј500 for the runner up. The Award is open to all schools, colleges and educational establishments, from nursery to age 18, in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria.

Entries can encompass any current project relating to trees and woodlands. The awards are held in association with Forestry Commission England, and no woodlands are required. For further details and entry forms visit www.rfs.org.uk or email rfscompetition@boyns.net.

RFS Education Officer Debbie Cotton explained: “We are looking at projects which   increase young people's understanding and appreciation of trees and woodlands. Winning projects in the past have been those which have really been creative in bringing the subject into the curriculum, those which provide genuine opportunities to learn outside or get hands on with woodcraft and those which have worked beyond the school and into the community’.

The awards move around the country in a seven-year rotation, and previous winners have included Free Rangers Nursery in Welton, Somerset for setting up a whole nursery based on the forest school ethos and for its use of wood inside the setting (2012), Pinewood Special School in Hoe Road, Ware, Hertfordshire for its whole school approach to looking at wood craft, woodland management and conservation (2011); Bladon School, Oxfordshire, for its OneOak project (2010)

Best practice case studies of recent winners can be found at: http://www.rfs.org.uk/involved/Schools-award-winners-2012

Entries must be received by 4 March 2013, and judging will be held in May and June 2013. For further details and entry forms visit www.rfs.org.uk  or email rfscompetition@boyns.net.

The RFS Schools award is sponsored by PEFC UK Ltd and ECL Howard Watson Smith.

The Schools award is part of a wider RFS Woodlands Awards which includes five woodland categories – Multipurpose (Duke of Cornwall), Silviculture, Community, Urban Forestry and Small Woodlands (up to 20ha).

For further information please contact Wendy Necar RFS Communications Officer on 01926 421679/07973 523168 or email communications@rfs.org.uk or contact Trefor Thompson on rfscompetition@boyns.net  or tel 01824 704230.

 

RHS Campaign for School Gardening

Are you interested in developing your school garden with practical help from our Schools Regional Advisor? Could your school benefit from professional training to help teachers develop horticultural skills and make best use of the garden to deliver the whole curriculum? Would you like free teacher resources, tools and seeds?

Supported by Manchester Airport, the RHSis expanding its national Campaign for School Gardening in Greater Manchester.

For more information and an application form please click on these documents partner school recruitment letter and application form

School food plan

School food plan website is now up and running click on the link to find out more www.education.gov.uk/schoolfoodplan

UN Global Report on Human Settlements 2011: Cities and Climate Change

A new UN report has been released claiming that the world's cities are responsible for about 70% of carbon emissions, yet only occupied 2% of the planet's land cover.  The study also said that effective urban planning could deliver huge savings.  The authors warned of a "deadly collision between climate change and urbanisation" if no action was taken. (29th March, 2011)

Sustainable Schools Resources available on the MEEN website

MEEN has been given permission to host the resources and materials from the Sustainable Schools site.  These resources consist of a range of guides, lesson plans and advice aiming to involve all levels of school staff in a drive towards sustainability.  They can be found here.

The Department for Education now have an area on their website endorsing sustainability in schools.

Sustainable Schools Alliance News

(from the SEEd website, posted 13th December 2010)

The Alliance is gathering pace and the working group were very heartened by the response to the consultation that began last week. Both the 10th December and the 5th of January were full within days of advertising. 50 people (at the last count) had registered for online only and overall we think we will have over 150 responses. Most are organisations, networks, schools, universities or businesses showing the ‘Big Society’ type of interest in this work

Two government departments are showing interest in this Alliance – DfE and Defra – and we hope to have two Ministers at our launch (end of Feb or March depending on their availability)

We have had meeting with the regional networks and a few big NGOs who are keen to be part of this alliance and support it. They include Ecoschools, GAP, RSPB, Wastewatch and WWF-UK so far

Just to reiterate, the Alliance will be for anyone working on Sustainable Schools. The working group developing this on everyone’s behalf consists of SEEd, DEA and NCB. We will also be developing an Advisory Group and have a few names already but want more idea of how this should be constituted from you. That is one of the consultation questions.

Another question we keep bumping up against is how to get Sustainable Schools information to the right person in schools. Schools and NGOs are often frustrated by not having the right named person in a school. If anyone has any suggestions of how they made this work please contact SEEd

There are many organisations closing down or cutting back as a result of cuts or these difficult financial times. As a result many organisations are thinking about their legacy. Well Sustainable Schools is ahead of the game and people are really interested in how we are getting going – so join in!