Sutton Valence Primary School

Green School Awards

November 2021

School Energy Conservation Award

Also for our Year pupil's "Solar Irrigation Project" this year (see below for full details), our school was nominated for another Green School Award. On Thursday 25th November, three Year 6 pupils accompanied Miss Terry to the awards event at the Ashford International Hotel and once more joined a number of schools from all over Kent to celebrate green initiatives and projects that have been launched in schools.

I am delighted to announce that we won the “School Energy Conservation Award" for the irrigation project in our Forest School area which is an amazing achievement and it is great that the efforts of our staff and pupils has been recognised once again.

This is our school's fifth Green School Award, and our Forest School area continues to thrive and develop!

May 2021

Better Energy School Awards (Young People's Trust for the Environment)

Even during a year that was severely disrupted by lockdowns as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with 13,000 children taking part in the Better Energy School Awards, our Year 6 pupil's "Solar Irrigation Project" was chosen as the Regional Winner in the Totally Active category for schools in the south of England as part of the Better Energy School Awards, which is organised by Young People's Trust for the Environment (YPTE).

Year 6 pupils were challenged with designing an irrigation system using donated solar panels. They collectively voted for a drip irrigation system and spent time calculating how many panels would be needed, the gallons of water per hour required (this is affected by the soil type), as well as the most efficient and safest route for the cabling and piping. Pupils also voted to use rain water and water from a water butt, and not the tap.

Various designs and structures were researched and lots of ideas shared, The children loved the idea of a 'tree' to hold the solar panels, with angled panels and the tree able to rotate to reflect the changing position of the sun through the seasons. Safety aspects and risk assessments were also discussed, considered and drawn up. Furthermore, the children wanted the area to be multipurpose, with a 'feeling den' where they could sit and be with nature and each other, and with recycled materials used where at all possible. The end result was amazing and a credit the children's research, determination and hard work.

As a Regional Winner our school has been awarded £500 which will be invested back into our Forest School area. You can see the list of 2021 winners here.

February 2020

Best Energy Conservation School Award (Maidstone)

Overall Energy Conservation Champion (Kent)

On Thursday 13th February four pupils accompanied Mrs Bell and Mrs Jack to an awards event at the Ashford International Hotel, having been notified that we had been selected for a prestigious Green School Award. The event lasted for two hours and lots of schools from all over Kent won awards for various green initiatives. It was very interesting to learn about what other schools have put in place, and both Mrs Bell and Mrs Jack returned to school buzzing with lots of ideas for a variety of eco projects that we can look to put in place here at Sutton Valence Primary School.

I am delighted to announce that we won the “Best Energy Conservation School Award” from the Maidstone district for our current efforts to pursue the installation of solar panels at our school. This is a fantastic achievement and despite us not yet raising the full £42,000 required, our efforts to do so have been recognised across the county. We are also committed to reaching our solar goal and currently have enquiries and applications in with a variety of Trusts/funding bodies in order to raise the rest of the money that is needed to see this project through to completion.

Furthermore, and just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better, our school was also awarded “Overall Energy Conservation Champion” in Kent!

Our school has now been awarded a total of four Green School Awards!

Thank you to Evie and Jonah H, Scott and Louise for coming along to the awards event and being amazing ambassadors for the school as well as its eco projects and aspirations. Some of the ideas that Mrs Bell came away with will be further explored by our school... so watch this space!