Pupils' Work in Barking and Dagenham

Richard Alibon Primary School

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Jewellery!

I was invited to Richard Alibon Primary School to run a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle workshop with Year 3. We made jewellery out of materials from high street shop window displays. The props used in high street shop window displays are changed frequently and often discarded after use. The beads, bangles, ribbons, pom poms, lace and other decorations I used in this jewellery workshop had been salvaged from Monsoon/Accessorize window displays.

Companies invest frequently in many props to decorate their visually-enticing window displays. After the season ends however, these decorations become 'waste' and are thrown away unless staff or the public take the materials and save them from landfill. Fortunately, the wonderful gems and beads I used in this workshop were saved and not wasted. The children and teachers loved reusing the beads, bangles and gems turning them into unique pieces of jewellery.

So, next time you are passing a shop on the high street and admire their window display, pop in and ask whether the materials have a planned use beyond the display. Many materials are used for a short period of time, yet have plenty of life left in them with much potential to support creative projects! Great work Richard Alibon!

Grafton Junior School

Grafton Junior School were the first school to take part in the new phase of our education programme. Our education officer Julia Roebuck worked with all classes in the school to raise awareness about the benefits of recycling whilst also incorporating other topics relating to environmental issues, such as energy, pollution and lifecycles.

The school are keen to develop their sustainability programme and integrate environmental issues further into everyday school life. Following the staff training, three day visit and consultation, an Eco Action Plan has been created to help the school achieve this.

Class activities link environmental issues with real world examples, encouraging the pupils to think about resources and waste in school and at home. Pupils were encouraged to see the importance of natural resources and, as one pupil suggested, we should add ‘Respect’ (for the environment) as a 4th ‘R’ word to ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’.

A bag for life (pictured) was made by Lurda, a Grafton Junior School pupil, by crocheting plastic bags together - a fantastic example of material reuse.