We’re incredibly proud of the amazing sustainability work happening at Ovingham CE First School! Our dedicated Climate Action Teams have been hard at work implementing plans to help limit our collective impact on the planet and teach the students about the importance of caring for the environment.
Here is a summary of what we have been up to:
Planting, growing and biodiversity
- We engaged the community in tree planting initiatives.
- The school has enhanced its biodiversity with wildflower areas.
- With guidance and supplies from our local garden centre, students are learning about the value of homegrown produce by cultivating their food.
- We have brought gardening and plant education into the classrooms with planting and growing.
Reuse, recycle and waste reduction
- A mud kitchen was built from recycled pallets to reduce waste and recycle. This initiative aimed to reduce waste by repurposing materials that might otherwise have been discarded, highlighting the value of recycling in practical, hands-on ways.
- The students engaged in a book swap to help understand recycling, and reduce a ‘throw-away culture’.
Outdoor learning and environmental stewardship
- Our Forest School has been a fantastic opportunity to keep our outdoor spaces tidy, as well as provide habitats for wildlife by creating dead hedges.
- Regular outdoor learning helps our students engage with nature.
- Our students engage in litter picking, which promotes responsibility for a clean school environment. This fosters environmental awareness to inspire similar actions at home and in their local areas.
Energy and climate action
- Our team assesses our energy usage, to help evaluate and improve our energy efficiency.
- Cheviot Learning Trust have arranged for new solar panels to be installed, moving towards a focus on renewable energy.
Sustainable travel
- We encouraged students to take part in our Walk to School Week, which promotes active, low-emission travel. This event aimed to raise awareness about the positive impact of active travel on both personal well-being and the environment.
Education and awareness
- During Green Careers Day, our students were able to explore sustainable career options, make turbines, and understand energy generation.
We look forward to continuing to engage in more activities to work towards climate control and sustainability.
As part of our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and our fantastic Forest School provision, we’ve been working alongside Mickley First School to renew our Climate Friendly Schools certification, an initiative designed to complement the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Strategy.
In being a part of Climate Friendly Schools, we gain access to expert support, resources, lesson plans and a host of other benefits designed to support us in becoming more climate-friendly.
Part of being a Climate-Friendly School involves an annual Climate-Friendly Schools Audit. During the audit, we look at our current activity as well as the steps we can take to improve in the future.
Once complete, this Audit informs the creation of a Climate Friendly Schools Action Plan, a detailed plan with 10 exciting new actions for us to undertake. Over the past few months, we have been working with Mickley First School to review our most recent Audit and create a detailed action plan.
So far we have already engaged in Tree Planting activities with our local community, a Green Careers Day and a tidy-up of our Forest School. A big thanks to Newcastle Bridges School pupils who have been helping with repairs to our raised vegetable beds and our forest school.
As the warmer weather approaches and we move into Springtime, these new habitats have already begun to attract various insects, birds and wild animals to our school grounds.
With many more exciting climate-friendly activities planned for the Summer term, we’re looking forward to getting outside and enjoying our wonderful outdoor facilities.
Headteacher Mr Andy Hudson shared “We are proud of the steps we have taken in making a difference, however small towards mitigating the effects of climate change. The pupils are all very keen to play their part in reducing their impact on the environment through alternative travel to school, nurturing our local habitat and tackling waste. We are also very grateful to Newcastle Bridges School for their support and we look forward to continuing this partnership.”
We are thrilled to announce the completion of our brand-new outdoor learning space, designed to spark creativity, adventure, and hands-on learning for our students!
In an amazing collaboration with Newcastle Bridges School, our staff and pupils worked together to build a fantastic mud kitchen using recycled pallets and scaffolding boards.
A huge thank you to Joe Edgoose, teacher, and especially students Chris and Harvey, who put in so much effort during the Autumn term to bring this to life!
Our new mud kitchen will give children a unique space to explore, experiment, and connect with nature. Fully equipped for messy, imaginative play, it’s a place where they can dig, mix, and create to their heart’s content.
But that’s not all! Thanks to the incredible support of our Parent Teacher Association (PTA), we’ve also added Get Set Go building blocks, Play Builder equipment, and adventurous climbing gear for our Key Stage 2 students. These new additions will bring even more opportunities for outdoor learning, active play, and creative problem-solving.
A special thank you to Cllr Holly Waddell for her support in making this all possible. Her dedication to improving local education and outdoor spaces has played a huge part in making these exciting developments happen.
Headteacher Andy Hudson shared, “This project is a fantastic example of what we can achieve when we work together. The mud kitchen will be a brilliant addition to our learning environment, and the new climbing equipment will help our KS2 children build confidence and resilience. We’re so grateful to everyone who contributed—our staff, students, PTA, Cllr Waddell, and all our supporters.”
We can’t wait to see our children enjoying these fantastic new spaces over the coming months!
Interested in visiting our school? Please contact [email protected] or call us at
01661 832581.
KS2 schools participated in a Zoom session with Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, a writer for Horrible Histories.
During the call, Gabby walked us through the entire writing process, sharing a first draft of a script she had written. She explained the editing process in groups and then played the final clip from the episode, allowing us to compare the draft with the finished product! We focused on resilience, reflecting on how it relates to our own writing experiences at school, including self- and peer-assessment, and making corrections using our green pens based on teacher feedback.
Gabby also discussed the collaborative effort between historians and writers in Horrible Histories, highlighting how the show uses bizarre but true facts, confirmed with the ‘this was actually true’ sign from Rattus.
Additionally, Gabby explained what a parody is and showed us a hilarious parody she wrote of CBeebies Bedtime Stories. It featured Geoffrey Chaucer reading a bedtime story on YeBeebies… though not quite as charming as it might sound!
Our pupils are passionate about reading, particularly Horrible Histories, so they thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to ask Gabby about the behind-the-scenes process of filming and what her favourite episode was (which, unsurprisingly, was one she wrote—and we loved it too!). Gabby also shared that she had been working on turning another of our favourite books (Horrible Science) into a TV series, we can’t wait to watch it!
As avid readers, our children are excited to create their own piece of writing in the style of Horrible Histories, incorporating the history they’ve learned and finding quirky, interesting facts to inspire their writing. They’ve already started working on draft book covers featuring Hadrian’s Wall, the Northumberland Flag, the Chillingham Cow, Celts and Romans.
This session was part of our Cultural Match program, aimed at improving our KS2 writing outcomes with a focus on Northumberland’s history. We’ve also had a museum visit where we explored various aspects of the county’s past such as nature, Celtics and the Romans. Upcoming sessions will cover the Northern Saints (connected to our school houses) and the Anglo-Saxons.
