Portslade Community College
Creativity for Change – Waste Project
Support was provided to enable this Year 7 project to deliver a paperless curriculum to effect significant change in the way the whole school community thinks about waste and tangibly reduce negative behaviours affecting the environment.
The students must re-think and re-use at all times and must build up an evidence portfolio to demonstrate how they use their skills throughout their school subjects, at home, and in the wider community and to complete their chosen mission.
Each six-week project culminates in students sharing their new knowledge with their community by delivering lessons or workshops in school, making public information films or blogs, visiting local primary schools, or putting on a play. The school has started an allotment and filmed it for ‘One Day on Earth’ and they collected plastic bottles to build a greenhouse at ‘The Big Build’ that took place in May 2011. Students are submitting their own designs and are also taking part in the ‘paddle around the pier’ competition in summer 2011 where they will design and build their own ‘PCCiki’. At the end of the summer term 2011, the students will celebrate the project by putting on performances, selling their re-thought, re-used, recycled wares on stalls, running games and workshops on sustainability, building another plastic bottle greenhouse (to raffle), and selling fruit and veg from the school allotment.
The project is monitored by reviewing bills for energy, paper, water, and waste.
“The Christmas and Summer Fairs were as environmentally friendly as we could possibly make them. All the products and games were made using upcycled materials and all of the waste was recycled. We only ended up with one black bag of rubbish at the end of the day! This year we’re aiming for none.”
Kate McAllister, teacher