NEW Aberdour Primary is now officially one of the most environmentally friendly schools in the whole of Aberdeenshire after they were awarded the Eco School's top award, the Green Flag.
Their achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider that the school has only seven pupils and a staff of just three and that they have their Bronze Silver and now Green Flag award all within 12 months.
The award recognises efforts mad
e by a school to become greener and more eco friendly in its approach to all aspects of school life.
To gain their Green Flag the school have to maintain and build on all the elements of the work they did to gain their Silver and Bronze awards.
Acting Head Teacher, Gordon Mackay told 'The Herald' "This is a great achievement for such a small school. The Eco School's project shouldn't seen as isolated projects, because they reach into all aspects of school life and curriculum touching on everything from maths work to ICT."
He added that it is all the more remarkable because they haven't had a lot of money to spend and have been aided and supported in their efforts by the parents and the wider community, something for which he is very grateful.
But Mr Mackay isn't surprised by how much the school has achieved because of the school has always been interested in the environment and were recycling in the school back in the 1990's.
And he paid particular tribute to the work that classroom assistant May Merry has done over the months with all the children from P1-P7 to help them reach this level.
The work which was done within the school to gain the Green Flag was built on the hard work that was done to achieve their Bronze and more recently their Silver Awards.
Principally this has involved more planting within the grounds, close monitoring of what and how much they recycle and their efforts in reducing the energy levels used within the school.
Most recently the pupils used tatties that they had grown in an area of the playground to make Cullen Skink soup, using other locally produced ingredients.
Over the years the school has been instrumental planting many trees and flowers and helping to encourage birds and wildlife to come into the playground, recycling everything from paper to plastic, composting and putting in a willow hide. The school can also boast it's own outdoor stage area with seating for all the children, enabling them to be taught outdoors.
They have also gone on bug hunts and for nature walks around the local community and have had several visits from the local RSPB.
They have grown things from seeds for the Macmillan Pots of Care scheme. The have helped clean up the beach in a series of beach cleans and recorded what they have found and learned more about the marine and wildlife living around the coast.
The school has also been keen to reduce their carbon footprint by making sure that they turn off taps when they aren't been used, close doors to keep the heat in or simply turn off the light if they leave a room, something which is also filtering out into their home life.
The pupils have even recorded all their work to look after their environment by creating a new verse in their school song.
Mr Mackay added: "They took part in a beach clean at New Aberdour beach, where they spent the morning picking up and bagging all kinds of litter which they found and discussing where the rubbish had come from and the impact it that litter has on the marine wildlife and birds.
"The school can now boast it's own outdoor stage, with special wooden stumps for each child to sit on, so that they can take the classroom out of doors.
"We really took the lead from the children on this. They wanted to be able to do their lessons out of the classroom and they came up with the idea of creating an area in the playground."
The pupils have enjoyed doing all the various activities. Jordan has particularly enjoyed planting all the flowers while Calum has been busy looking after the stick insects and has enjoyed all aspects of the scheme, while Susie believes it's been a big achievement for everyone at the school.
Classroom Assistant May Merry is also pleased at what has been achieved: "I am delighted that we have got the Green Flag. A lot of hard work has gone in to achieving it. The children are now far more aware of their environment and in taking care of it."
