Sustainability at BFS
At Buntingford First School we don't just learn about the importance of sustainability during our ESR lessons. Throughout the year we mark special days and weeks to show that we always have sustainability at the forefront of our minds, ensuring that we are equipped for our futures.
Earth Day
The children worked together in their house groups to create a collaborative art piece using recycled materials. Each house then came up with their own pledge to commit to caring for our planet.
Our collaborative mural to celebrate taking care of our wonderful world
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Planting
Planting pumpkin seeds today in Birch Class…looks like they’ll be getting plenty of watering over Easter with the rainy forecast!
Our School Building
KS2 enjoyed learning about our special sustainable school building in ESR. We went around the school looking at the different design features of the building that make it more sustainable e.g. triple glazing, solar panels, air source heat pump, north facing classrooms, south facing social spaces, bird boxes, wildlife area with a pond, bike/scooter shelter with a living roof to name a few!
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Bug Hotel
Reception children were eager to welcome new bugs and mini beasts to our new bug hotel. Not all were keen when they saw a spider!
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Saving Water
We heard from Jenny who lived in Cape Town during the drought and how her family managed to conserve water. KS2 created their own PowerPoints to share some top tips on how to save water as part of our learning in ESR.
Tree Rescue
The children in Oak class rescued a sapling that had been blown over in the storms. It was a lot of work and we even discovered a dinosaur tooth while digging!
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RSPB Big Bird Watch
We are birdwatchers aka ornithologists! We are supporting the RSPB’s Big School’s Birdwatch. You can get involved at home too! See how many different birds you can see. Find out about them, draw a picture of your favourite bird or make a poster to bring in and show your teacher. Can you capture any good photos?
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Recycle Week
We ran a competition to design a new recycle logo that would appear on all our bins and letters. This is our winning design!
- To celebrate recycle week, nursery have been making models using recycled materials. Check out our jet packs and hoovers!
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- We explored a fun way to reuse our plastic bottles: by making lava lamps!
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- Move over London and Milan….the catwalk has arrived at Buntingford First School for Recycle Week. The whole school came to watch some of the innovative and creative designs from KS1 and KS2 using recycled goods.
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- Sorting materials so they can be recycled.
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Bird Feeders
As you can see, the creative corner is one of the most used areas in nursery! We had great fun recycling our used milk cartons into bird feeders. Through the extremely messy process, we learnt the word ‘drizzle’ to describe the way we were applying the paint and also why PVA glue helps the paint stick! #messyplay
Nature in Art
Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.
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Social Media contact with Malaika Vaz
And we can’t wait to meet you Malaika Vaz 
Our Mascot, Chico, an endangered red panda gifted to us by Layston Grove.
Poetry Competition: Our World
We were delighted that one of our pupils won the local library poetry competition with an inspirational poem about our world.
Fairtrade Assembly
Year 3 and 4 have been learning about the importance of Fair Trade during their ESR (Education for Social Responsibility) lessons. They decided to spread the word so they planned and delivered an assembly to KS1. Brilliant work KS2 - thank you for being so conscientious!
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Building Awards
We are lucky enough to have won or been finalists in the following awards:
- Regional Constructing Excellence Awards 2024 – Climate Action Award
- RTPI – Best project of the year
- Education Estates Awards – National finalist Project of the Year (Schools)
- Offsite Awards 2024 – Education Project of the Year (Finalist)
- LABC Building Excellence Awards 2024 - Best Public or Community Building (Central Region)
