A DALE primary school is celebrating after attaining their very own Green Flag in an international accreditation scheme.
Montalbo School, in Barnard Castle, has been attained a top environmental accreditation after three years of hard work.
The Eco-School education programme covers 68 countries, involving 59,000 schools. The programme was first piloted in Denmark in 1992 following the success of Blue Flag awards for beaches and marinas.
Schools winning the award are hailed for integrating environmental issues into every aspect of the school life and promoting hands-on learning.
Dr Felicity Greenwell, eco and science lead at Montalbo, said: “We already had the bronze and silver award but now we’ve got the top award. It’s a credit to the children and all the hard work that they have put in.
“It is lovely that the children feel like they are doing something – even during Covid-19 we held the eco-club virtually. The award really encapsulates the school’s ethos of endeavour, to be inspired and to collaborate.”
Each year group carried out projects looking at environmental issues which were assessed externally.
Pupils in year four carried out a biodiversity project creating wildflower areas with bird and bat boxes.
Year two youngsters looked at how they travelled to school and how they could reduce emissions by walking or cycling each day.
Meanwhile, children in year five investigated waste and helped devise a recycling scheme at the school where used batteries can be handed in safely.
Dr Greenwell said: “Each of the years has undertaken a project dealing with environment issues.
“It’s a whole school effort and it is fantastic achievement by everybody.”
The news of the school’s accreditation was fittingly announced during a special assembly on Earth Day last week.
The flag will be mounted on a board and displayed in the school entrance.
