Reward for achievement at Cassop Primary School

May 24 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

A PRIMARY school will collect a special achievement award today in recognition of its decades of commitment to the environment.

Cassop Primary School will receive the honour as part of the 21st County Durham Environment Awards, which will be presented this afternoon.

The school, between Cassop and Quarrington Hill near Coxhoe, was the first school in the UK to be powered by its own wind turbine.

Led by headteacher and keen environmentalist Jim McManners, who has been at the school for more than 30 years, generations of pupils have been inspired to learn about and take action on green issues, both global and local.

The school has a pupil-led green team, which comes up with ideas for activities and initiatives, as well as solar panels and biomass boiler. Computer displays allow youngsters to see how much electricity is being produced by the renewable energy measures.

In the grounds are more than 300 trees which have been planted by the children, a secret garden, pond, bird watching area and vegetable patch, where ingredients for school dinners are grown.

The school also has a sustainability centre which pupils from other schools can visit to find out more about Cassop’s activities.

Deputy head Jill Jackson said the environment was ingrained in the school’s activities, rather than being a bolt-on subject.

She said: “Whatever lesson we do the environment is brought into it. It’s not something we think we have got to teach, it’s something we do all the time. It’s about looking after the environment for real purposes because we can see the differences we make.”

Year Six pupil Elle Smithson, 11, said: “I think what we do is really good because we still have computers and use electricity, but we use it well and everyone takes part in helping to switch things off if we don’t need them.”

Katie Lawson, 11, said: “No-one’s left out. We have light monitors who go round turning the lights off. We all work as a team so it’s not just one person doing it. It’s nice to get an award because it shows what a good school we are and how hard we try.

“We watched a video about global warming and I thought it was very bad. I think we should have left the coal where it was because we burned the coal and put CO² in the air.”

Over the years the school has won a string of awards for its green efforts and this afternoon Cassop Primary will collect the Special Continual Achievement Award at the 2009 County Durham Environment Awards, to be presented at Durham’s Gala Theatre.

The County Durham Environment Awards were launched in 1989 with the aim of encouraging and rewarding good design and environmental practice.

There are seven categories for entries: the Built Environment, Craftmanship, the Natural Environment and Countryside Improvement, Waste Management, Schools, Climate Change and Community Partnership.

Steve Bhowmick, Environment and Design Manager, said: “I can’t think of a more worthy recipient.

“At every level Cassop Primary School is a fantastic example of how lots of little changes can make a big difference to a local environment.”

Cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, Coun Neil Foster, said: “Staff and pupils have now embedded their environmental knowledge in to the school’s curriculum and Cassop is recognised as a centre of excellence. It also now shares that experience with other schools and interested groups.”