Free programmes for Hackney schools
Due to generous support by the London Borough of Hackney’s Waste and Recycling Department we are able to offer a wide range of activities free of charge to schools in Hackney.
All the workshops are curriculum-linked and are for up to 30 pupils each. We have a flexible number of workshops to offer, depending on the size of the school. An assembly will be delivered as part of each option.
Please choose from one of the options below and contact us for more details.
Primary Schools:
Option 1: Recycling at School
To help schools set up and maintain paper and mixed recycling systems, saving money on resources and on waste collection fees. This consists of:
- Class workshops, focusing on recycling of paper and mixed recycling. These half day workshops will involve exploring the school’s waste – how it is disposed of currently, and how more of it can be reduced, reused and recycled – enabling children and staff to take practical steps to organise and manage this.
- A training meeting to help staff set up and maintain recycling.
- A whole or half-school assembly.
Option 2: Recycling at Lunch
To help introduce and set up systems for packaging recycling and food waste collection in the dining room. This is targeted at schools which have food waste collection bins, and consists of:
- Class workshops, involving hands-on activities to introduce the dry recycling and food waste collection bins in the dining room, with the goal of enabling staff and children to set up and maintain recycling and collection systems, thereby reducing waste at source.
- Activities will cover:
- How to reduce packaging and have a waste-free lunch;
- Food waste, why it’s collected and what happens to it beyond the bin ;
- Food packaging items, the raw materials they’re made from and the need for resource conservation.
- A training meeting for staff and teachers to introduce the new bins and collection system.
- A whole or half-school assembly.
Option 3: Composting at School
We will tailor these activities to suit the school’s experience in composting, offering two distinct activities:
- Beginners’ compost workshop for pupils on how to set up and maintain a composting system in the school and what to put into it.
- Activities will include:
- Helping pupils and staff select an appropriate compost pack, ensuring suitability for site and needs of school;
- Introducing the compost cycle and how the new scheme will be managed at school;
- Describing which materials can and cannot be composted on site;
- Encouraging pupils to investigate compost as a suitable habitat for worms and other invertebrates.
- A staff training meeting;
- A whole or half school assembly.
Or:
- Improvers’ compost workshop for pupils to provide support with reinvigorating or improving the health of a composting scheme, for example: ensuring the whole school is aware of and understands how the compost is made and used; troubleshooting for compost problems;
- A staff training meeting;
- A whole or half-school assembly
Option 4: Litter and the quality of the local environment
We are offering five-week projects which involve pupils in investigating and discussing how our behaviour with litter and graffiti affects the quality of our local community, and what we can do about it. This option involves working with one group or class over several weeks to:
- Observe and record positive and negative aspects of the local environment, including litter and graffiti;
- Map these observations of the local area;
- Discuss how improvements could be made, and what role the Council and others should take in this;
- Decide what role the school, pupils and families have in improving and maintaining the local environment and what action can be taken;
- Prepare and deliver an assembly (either whole- or half-school) to present their findings.
Secondary Schools:
We can offer a range of activities focused on:
- how to set up a paper and mixed recycling system in school
- how to set up recycling in the dining hall for packaging and for food collection
- how to set up a composting system in school
- trouble-shooting and improvement of composting systems
We can deliver this through a workshop, possibly with a class or your school ‘green team’, a whole- or half-school assembly along with additional staff meetings and training if needed.
We also offer a humanities or geography curriculum-linked workshop exploring the role of local organisations, including the Council and the school, in improving and maintaining the local environment, e.g. recycling and litter, waste and graffiti prevention. The workshop will enable pupils to explore what strategies are used to maintain the local environment, and what role they as individuals have to play.
