Good Practice Case Study: Environment and Innovation, UK

Case Study (343 Kb PDF)

This activity was presented at the ManagEnergy 2008 Annual Conference workshop: Energy education, bringing the energy awareness to schools

Summary

A project by Millfield Primary School to promote schools' innovative environmental problem-solving. The project is the final winner from the Environment and Innovation Project, 1st Cycle (2005 - 2007), a project organised by the Eco-Schools International Programme Coordination with the support of Toyota Motor Europe via Toyota Fund for Europe.

Creation of a long-term and sustainable incentive for children to walk-to-school, by installing permanent checkpoint machines where children stamp a token on every "green" school journey. Called "Stamp Stanley", the smiley face stamped on tokens is children's proof of the green journey they have made. Tokens are saved up and exchanged in school for a wide range of rewards, used to "buy" items, and also entered into prize draws to win family treats.

Establishing strong relationships between businesses, neighbours, parents, staff and children, this project has a real and significant impact, with wide-reaching benefits for the school and community.

Results

The project has been a huge success so far. 96% of children in the school have taken part in the scheme, and 64% of the children have made every journey a green journey since the project began.

We have raised the overall percentage of 'green journeys' made from 45% to up to 82% (of all journeys made to and from school), and sustained this over the four weeks the project has been running so far. Note that the majority of these 'green journeys' are zero-carbon because the whole journey is on foot or bike; however, a proportion of these journeys are made partway by car, with the children walking at least the distance from a checkpoint to the school.

Although the number of green journeys being made dipped slightly after the first week, it started climbing again following the first rewards session and prize draw.

The planned outcomes we aimed to achieve were:

• permanent reduction of vehicle congestion near school
• lowered emissions due to school runs
• eco-aware generations being educated in the importance of sustainability and the benefits of walking to school

The first two have certainly been achieved in the running of the project so far. The third outcome is a longerterm aim, but even so there is some evidence already of success here too - for example, we have done work in year 4 literacy on advertising, and we used the idea of advertising the benefits of this project to other schools. In their work, it was interesting to note that the majority of the children created persuasive arguments based not on the rewards they are getting, but on the part they are playing in helping save the environment and in becoming fitter and healthier.

Lessons learned and repeatability

Some of the positive aspects are described above. Other benefits we aimed for were:

• Improving children's health and fitness
• Exercise energising children's minds to improve learning each day
• Increasing children's contact with the environment and elements, and their appreciation of their part within the natural world.

Other unexpected benefits we have found so far are:

• Parents using walk-to-school as their daily fitness routine
• Children gaining life-skills in the saving-up of their tokens, even planning ahead how to spend their tokens and how many they need to earn by a certain time. Some Year 6 children have dubbed the tokens 'Millfield Money' - and it is in fact responsibility and budgeting skills they are exercising, similar to those needed in the financial world of later life.
• Increased opportunities for personal and social learning in school, through the rewards sessions - where children meet, work and play with others from different classes and other year groups

Important for success of the project has been the possibility to sustain the interest from the children, as well as the close co-operation with other actors in Millfield.

There is a large potential for replication of the project in other parts of Europe as the project is possible to carry out with a relatively small budget and at almost any primary school in Europe.

To find similar reports, click on a keyword below:
Eco-Schools : Education : ManagEnergy : Mobility Management : Schools & Colleges : Sustainable Development : Sustainable Transport : User behaviour : Walking

Complete the Questionnaire to add your organisation to this website

International Coordination of Eco-Schools FEE Portugal / ABAE - Associaçao Bandeira Azul da Europa

Millfield Primary School