Very proud to be sustainably Stroud

Stroud School, King Edward VI Preparatory, in Romsey has launched its four-year Sustainability Plan by holding a Green Day and Green Day Fair.

Stroud has launched its first ever four-year Sustainability Plan to help the school community take practical steps to reduce its footprint. It is setting up a range of projects and schemes to tackle four keys areas; energy efficiency and creation; food waste reduction; reduce, reuse, recycle and nature recovery.

Its first big fundraising project is to buy a Ridan Food Composter. This, alongside a project to reduce food waste, will enable the School to turn what waste they have left into useable compost for the school, while teaching the children how compost is made.

The four-year sustainability plan was launched by children enjoying a wide range of learning outside the classroom activities including weaving woven petals that will be used to mark out wildflower meadows next Spring; basket making; and insect and honey tasting.

This was followed by Stroud’s very first Green Fair: they welcomed a number of independent stalls from wildlife charities Hampshire and the IOW Trust and Hampshire Swifts, to independent artists selling arts and crafts. The Test Valley Council promoted recycling and SA Energy demonstrated solar energy. They also offered an Electronic Car Information Area for visitors to speak to people who own electric cards, alongside a “Children’s Outdoor Kit swap and costume sale”.

Learning Outside the Classroom is not a new concept at Stroud; they annually hold a Learning Outside the Classroom Day where the whole school embraces the spirit of the Outdoor Classroom concept. And as part of its continuous drive to embed and further develop sustainability, the School’s Wildlife Ranger has been focussing on unlocking the potential of Stroud’s extensive outdoor areas, whilst developing the curriculum of sustainability across all year groups.

The School has also begun the development of our beautiful 22 acres of outdoor spaces, with several areas of woodland getting a new lease of life with pathway restoration, seating areas and hedgerows. Other areas are being left to recover organically as part of a wider rewilding effort, while a newly-constructed wildlife hide has been nestled into a forgotten corner of the grounds, where pupils have been able to get closer to wildlife and have an outdoor hub to use in wetter weather.

Stroud has been awarded the ‘Council for Learning Outside the Classroom’ (CLOtC) Silver Award, a national accreditation that has been endorsed by the Department for Education and is working towards its Gold Award.

The School has been praised for outstanding achievement in sustainable development education and management, and continually improves the environmental performance of the School and the wider community.

Ongoing projects include gardening clubs, planting an orchard in the school grounds and further energy saving and charity initiatives.

If you have any questions regarding the Stroud School Sustainability Initiative, please contact Mrs Wend Reid.

Stroud’s popular Wednesday morning events take place throughout the term and are an excellent way to visit the school and explore its facilities and extensive grounds.

Please visit www.stroud.kes.school or email registrar@stroud-kes.org.uk to register your place.