20 July 2012
St Gwladys Bargoed Primary has become the first school in Caerphilly county borough to be awarded the Platinum Eco Flag. This prestigious national award has been achieved by only twenty nine schools in the whole of Wales.
Their Eco Schools journey started back in March 2000, meaning they have been involved in reducing their environmental impact through the Eco Schools Programme for 12 years, which is an amazing achievement.
The knowledgeable, articulated and committed eco committee led an outstanding Eco School assessment highlighting the schools brilliant eco school portfolios, which showed the Eco Schools process perfectly to the assessors.
The assessor Matthew Bunt recognised "The excellent whole school approach that was demonstrated and the work of a knowledgeable, articulate Eco Committee." He also commented that "there are always innovative Eco Projects in place at St. Gwladys."
In achieving the platinum award they have tackled and shown improvement in all 8 eco school topic areas; waste minimisation, litter, healthy living, school grounds, transport, global citizenship, energy and water. The community has played their part too, responding to such initiatives as the Trolley Dash and Waste Not Wednesday.
Cllr Rhianon Passmore, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning congratulated the school, saying "The school have been committed to reducing their impact on the environment for over a decade, showing the Eco Schools ethos is embedded in the daily life of the school. This is a wonderful and inspiring achievement, well done to the whole school."
Head teacher Kathryn Evans also commended the dedication and hard work of the children, led by the Eco Co-ordinator, Mrs. Paula Salmon.
She said, "It is very heartening to see the commitment of young people in tackling pressing global concerns in a practical way at local level. Their determination and enthusiasm has been remarkable and we are all very proud of them."
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