The Knaphill Schools PTA is committed to supporting eco issues and helping our community to take small steps to make a real difference and feel good. Inspired by the principles of the “Take The Jump” initiative and a community consultation, we have developed SIX key focus areas for our eco policy. Our aim is to help our community to commit to simple, clear and doable actions that will make a contribution to tackling the climate crisis.
RECYCLE & UPCYCLE
Second-hand Book Fair: To coincide with Book Week, the PTA runs an annual Second-Hand book fair where children can grab amazing books at bargain prices. Books are collected in February each year, and donations are always welcome!
Ink cartridge recycling: We currently collect used ink cartridge for recycling and collection boxes are located in each school office.
Recycling points: The PTA has funded bins for writing implements (such as biros, felt tip pens, highlighters, etc), batteries and uniform in the Reception area at both schools.
We will continue to look at other recycling and upcycling opportunities. If you have any ideas, please get in touch.
PRE-LOVED CLOTHING
Second-hand Uniform Shop: Through our pre-loved uniform shop, we provide low cost uniform to families and save hundreds of items of clothing from ending up in landfill. Nothing is wasted – spare clothing is donated to the schools in case children require an emergency change of clothes and we have also donated uniform to the charity Jigsaw, as they provide this free of charge to families struggling with the cost of this.
Second-hand Winter Coat Sale: In November each year, the PTA collects unwanted children’s and adult coats and then sells them to our community at low prices. Any coats left at the end of the sale are donated to local charitable causes.
Bag2School: We hold a Bag2school collection twice a year, collecting clothing that is no longer needed. The school receives money based on the weight of the items collected – so the more that is donated, the more money we make!
ENHANCING OUR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
This is an area where the PTA has huge ambitions as we know how important this is to our school community.
Green Screen Installation at the Junior School: We are currently seeking funding to install green (ivy) screens in our Junior school. This will have huge benefits to our children and help to turn our grey spaces green! Please see our fundraising page for more information.
Wildlife Garden at the Lower School: Once we have achieved our funding targets for the green screen installation, we will be turning our focus to creating a wildlife garden in the Lower School to help expand our amazing forest school.
Knaphill Schools Eco Squad: The PTA is currently exploring ways to set up a litter picking squad from within the school community to help improve the local area for everyone. Watch this space!
In addition to our ambitions, we currently support both schools with maintenance and renovation jobs to help improve the environment for our children. Our activities include:
Green Afternoons: We are very fortunate as a school to have some wonderful outside areas in our Lower School. These areas need maintenance to keep them at their best for our children to enjoy and the PTA lends its support to the school’s monthly green mornings.
School enhancement and renovation projects: The PTA also regularly undertakes projects to help enhance areas of the school. This has included building outdoor community libraries, improving the space outside our Year 2 entrance and enhancing the sensory garden.
Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival Exhibit: Each year the PTA supports the Lower School Eco Club to create an entry for the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival Schools Display. We are privileged to help on this project and it’s always exciting to see our entry featured on Gardener’s World!
Woking in Bloom: In 2019, we entered the schools section of the competition for the first time and came a fantastic 2nd place!
TRAVEL FRESH
In a recent survey with our community, travel to school and parking issues around the school were highlighted as an area of concern for local families. We therefore have plans to investigate this further with our community and explore options for encouraging fresher travel.
EAT GREEN
Our community survey also highlighted that parents and carers are keen for their children to learn more about ‘growing their own’ and making healthy and active choices. Parents were also keen for children to understand more about food waste. The PTA is working with the school to explore options for supporting the school with their educational resources in this area and we are seeking funding opportunities to help us provide ‘grow your own’ resources for each year group across the whole school.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
The PTA works closely with the school to explore ways that we can promote climate change issues and undertake activities that allow the children to think about how their actions impact the environment.
PTA Events: At PTA events throughout the year we try to reduce our waste in a number of ways, such as drinks for children served in reusable cups (rather than cartons and bottles), increasing our use of recycled paper and cardboard in our food offering and trying to reduce the amount of plastic at our events. We are open to ideas, so please help us to get even better!
Your help is needed! All PTA projects are run by volunteers and help is very gratefully received so if you are interested in getting more involved with any of these projects please get in touch by emailing: kfoseco@gmail.com