School and Community

School & Community Based Project Scheme

Grants for innovation in the environment

The School and Community Based Project Scheme resulted in 16 schools receiving grants of between £100 and £500 towards innovative work on the environment. The range and inventiveness of bids was very pleasing. For example:

	Shenley Fields Nursery is working with a musical sculptor to explore ways of creating sounds through instruments made from recycled materials. Three of these instruments will be installed as part of their sensory garden.
	Woodgate J/I have focused on the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. They aim to increase awareness of sustainability and their responsibilities to their local and global community by setting themselves up as a textile recycling point.
	Redhill J/I is developing a programme of training for older pupils to develop skills which encourage younger pupils to resolve conflict through positive playtime activities.

The Chair's Challenge

City-wide Environmental Survey

The aim of the Chair’s Challenge for this Year was to get as many young people as possible contributing to the gathering of information to inform debate and decision making process within the City Council, and provide data to support the monitoring of Birmingham’s progress towards sustainability.

Environmental Survey - 6,500 responses!
A city-wide Environmental Survey was undertaken focusing on the week beginning 10th July, as maximum publicity was sought for that week. Pupil Survey Forms and a Teachers' Questionnaire were distributed and made available as downloads from this web site. The response was extremely successful - 6,500 forms were returned.

Survey forms were appropriate for those in Years 5 to 13, taking approximately 75 minutes to complete. However, the survey could also be used with younger classes or those with special needs by the teacher discussing each question with the group and recording their concensus opinions.

Many schools included the survey in the curriculum as a contribution to promoting Citizenship, Environmental Education, Geography, or a Personal and Social Education programme.