Transcripts: Colchester County High School

1. Are you working to make your school greener?
   Yes, much more so this year than we were last year.
2. What are you doing / have you done?
   Paper and card recycling - bin in each room, however they are collected separately due to the council not collecting card so that is dealt with by the cleaning staff.
   Martin (the cook) has organised oil recycling, and food waste has always been disposed of separately.
   Both students and staff are encouraged to switch off lights when they aren't needed.
   Next term we will be beginning glass recycling however the council won't take it so we're going to have to pay a company to take it away for us instead.
   We are also looking into starting plastic recycling.
3. Do students support you in this mission?
   Yes and no.
   Many students don't seem to see the point of recycling or switching off appliances, this is possibly due to them having a lack of awareness (this applies to staff as well)
   We are trying to involve students as much as possible.
   Some lower school students (from years 7-9) are involved in auditing the school.
4. Is it something your school takes very seriously?
   Yes, the school views it as an issue which is growing in importance
5. Do you think you would benefit from external assistance in making your school greener?
   If so, in what?
   Having done some extensive research into what external assistance is available, we are aware that there isn't really all that much offered to schools. This because external funding is split between domestic and industry. Schools are treated, but not funded like industry so there is little available for us.
   However if there was more external assistance then we would quite like glass and plastic which has been collected within the school to be collected by the council with the other waste or recycled stuff, instead of the school having to be responsible for finding and paying a company to do it for us.
6. Are green issues covered in time-tabled lessons or extra-curricular sessions (tutorials)?
   It's becoming more integrated into lessons. Lower school PSHCE lessons definitely cover the issue of being green.
   Due to changes to the GCSE and A level syllabi some subjects will now have to include a "green component" which will ensure that green issues are definitely covered in lessons.

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