Parkfield Primary School

Eco-Council Litter Picking

Our Eco Councillors went litter picking around school at playtime this morning to try and make the grounds look a bit nicer.

We would appreciate it please if rubbish is disposed of properly in a bin to keep our school clean and tidy.

Reward Afternoon

The: School Council, Eco Council and Playground Pal children were treated to a 'reward' afternoon in the hall today as a treat for all the hard work they have done this year.

Walk Twice a Week

We are promoting walking to school for longer than the initial walk to school week, which is starting on 16th May.  We want to encourage children to be active and we have joined a scheme run by the charity Living Streets which aims to support children and their parents/carers to walk to school at least twice a week. At the end of each month, if a child has walked at least twice a week, they receive a special pin badge.

There are eleven different pin badges, one for each month of the school year. The school is taking part because of many benefits we believe it will have on the school community.  Not only is it encouraging children to engage in regular physical activity, with obvious health benefits, but walking is also good for children’s mental health.  Children who walk to school tend to socialise with friends more and generally arrive more alert and ready to learn.

Weblinks

Download Walk to School Parent's Guide

Walk to School Website

Information about Road Safety

Green Cross Code Missing Words Game

Stop, Look and Listen Game

Find the Safe Places to Cross Game

Snakes and Hazards Game

Road Signs Quiz

The Works Recruitment - Eco Council Bins

As quoted from their website:

"Yorkshire based company The Works Recruitment has teamed up with Wybone to encourage children at Parkfield Primary School, Middleton to recycle more.

Wybone‘s in Barnsley manufacture litter and recycling bins and have provided colourful Box Cycle Bins for every classroom in the school.

Pupils will use the bins to recycle waste paper. The idea came from the school’s eco council, which is run by a group of children who are trying to take a greener approach to learning.

Megan aged 10 says: ‘I really like the new recycle bins. We can put all our paper in them and the council take the paper to get recycled… The bins are colourful and better than the cardboard boxes that we used to have.’
When The Works got in contact with Wybones, the family run business was delighted to get involved.

Director Daniel Calvert says:

“The Works Recruitment have been working with Wybone’s for some time now and we admire how they do business. I heard about the schools Eco-council from my daughter who attends Parkfield. It is great that the school encourages the children to think about the environment and I knew Wybone’s would want to get involved. “

Jane Steele is the extended schools co-ordinator, she thinks the partnership between Wybone and Parkfield is excellent:

“The relationship between us and Wybone is something we hope can continue in the future. The Box Cycle is a brilliant way for our pupils to see what they’re throwing away and how to prevent cross contamination. This gives us a great excuse to talk about recycling and how it benefits us and the planet.”

“Thank you Wybone for helping make our school greener” Joshua aged 7."

Wybone Helps Eco School

Quoted from this website - http://www.wybone.co.uk/news/wybone-helps-eco-school/

"Barnsley based company Wybone have teamed up with The Works Recruitment to help Parkfield Primary School teach children about recycling.

Every classroom in the school has received a delivery of a Wybone Box Cycle.

The bins will be used by pupils, to recycle waste paper. The idea came from the school’s eco council, which is run by a group of children who are trying to take a greener approach to learning. 

Megan aged 10 says: ‘Thanks to Wybone we can now monitor the paper that we are recycling in our school, this will allow us to promote recycling both in school and at home. The recycling box units are clear and this lets us see if there is paper that can be re-used instead of putting in the recycle bins.’

When The Works got in contact with Wybone, the family run business was delighted to get involved.

Managing director Richard Cooper says: “Its important children learn how and why we need to recycle and the impact it can have on the environment. These youngsters have shown a genuine interest is doing their bit to send less to landfill and that’s something we want to encourage.”

Jane Steele is the extended schools co-ordinator, she thinks the partnership between Wybone and Parkfield is excellent: “The relationship between us and Wybone is something we hope can continue in the future. The Box Cycle is a brilliant way for our pupils to see what they’re throwing away and how to prevent cross contamination. This gives us a great excuse to talk about recycling and how it benefits us and the planet.”

“Thank you Wybone for helping make our school greener” Joshua aged 7."

Recycling Units

A huge thank-you to The Works Recruitment and Wybone Ltd for their donation of several paper recycling units which are now in every classroom.

The money raised from our 'Green to School' day earlier this term will now be spent on buying litter-pickers to make the school environment an even cleaner place!

The Big Pedal Final Position

Well done to all those children who cycled to school these last four weeks and took part in 'The Big Pedal' virtual bike race with other schools. We finished in the impressive position of 260th (out of about 850 schools), having made a total of 900 trips by bike. We also managed to come in 38th position out of the 107 schools in the North West that took part.

Bike-It Breakfast

As a final push for the Big Pedal virtual bike race, we offered a breakfast to those children who rode to school on their bikes this morning.

Big Pedal Reminder

A quick reminder that the 'Big Pedal' is still going on until the end of this week - children are being encouraged to cycle to school so that we can take part in a virtual bike race with other schools to see who cycles the most (and there's prizes available for the cyclists in the top schools too!) We are currently in 312th position overall.

Big Pedal

A quick reminder that the 'Big Pedal' is still going on for the next 2 weeks - children are being encouraged to cycle to school so that we can take part in a virtual bike race with other schools to see who cycles the most (and there's prizes available for the cyclists in the top schools too!) We are currently in 296th position overall.

The Big Pedal Reminder

A reminder that it is the 'Big Pedal' for the next 3 weeks - children are being encouraged to cycle to school so that we can take part in a virtual bike race with other schools to see who cycles the most (and there's prizes available for the cyclists in the top schools too!) We are currently in 214th position overall.

The Big Pedal

We will be taking part in 'The Big Pedal' this month - a competition betweeen other schools to see who can race around a virtual map of the UK the fastest, based on the number of children who cycle to school each day. 

Look at all the fab prizes up for grabs - http://thebigpedal.org.uk/prizes

Download a Video about the Big Pedal

Get cycling to school!

(see our Bike-It Bugs Phoebe and Jake in Year 5 for more information)

Eco Council Planting Trees

Our eco councillors enjoyed planting some trees in the Friendship Gardens on Friday afternoon, kindly given the school as part of 'The Big Tree Plant'. They included: field maple, hornbeam and hazel.

Green to School Day Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who donated a pound to come to school wearing green clothes today to raise awareness of eco-issues and to raise funds for new recycling units.

Green to School Day Letter

Green to School Day - Friday 21st January

To raise awareness of ECO issues within school we will be holding a green-themed non-uniform day.

Please bring £1 contribution towards recycling units around the school.

Junior PCSO Letter Writing Competition

Well done to Paige in Year 6 for winning the Junior Police Community Support Officer letter writing competition by writing this letter:

Dear parents and carers,

I am writing to you to inform you about our new campaign we are doing in school, it is all about our safety. We really would like your help with this and you only have to do one little thing, and that thing is to not park on the yellow zig-zag lines outside school. I know that sometimes it’s hard to find spaces but you could always park at the bottom of the hill or in The Archers car park, not only does it stop the chaos it is also a bit of exercise.

If you park on the yellow zig-zag lines then what if someone is badly hurt the ambulance will not be able to get in or there’s a fire how will the fire service be able to get in? It is also illegal and may cost you a £60 fine. Now imagine a child was crossing the road and another car crashed into him/her because of the car that was parked on the yellow zig-zag lines. The child would be seriously injured maybe even dead, and would you like that? So please DO NOT park on the yellow zig-zag lines,

Yours faithfully,

Paige

Fruit from the Friendship Gardens

Look at all these lovely fruits that have been growing in our Friendship Gardens over the Summer holidays!

Reward Afternoon

Year 5 Playground Pals together with our Eco and School Councillors all enjoyed watching a film in the hall this afternoon as a treat for all the hard work they have done over the year.

Positive Change in School Travel Award

Eco Council Litter Picking