Pentip pupils go Platinum

PENTIP Church in Wales School has gone Platinum.

Staff and pupils are celebrating after achieving the highest accolade possible under the Eco Schools programme.

The Platinum award is the equivalent of four Green Flags and is only given to schools that have demonstrated a real commitment to the environment.

Headteacher Anne Murawski said: “The children work hard to make the school as environmentally-friendly as possible and are always looking for new ideas and projects to work on to save energy and resources. I am very proud of their commitment to the scheme and this achievement.”

The Llanelli school has set up an eco committee which carries out annual environmental reviews and identifies areas for action or improvement looking at litter, waste and recycling, energy use, water consumption, transport, healthy living, biodiversity and global citizenship.

As well as recycling the usual paper, cans and plastic, the school also recycles ink cartridges, mobile phones, stamps and glasses and pupils are encouraged to report running taps or left on lights to the teachers.

Staff and pupils successfully campaigned for a 20mph speed limit to be introduced on the busy main road and have developed the school grounds for outdoor learning.

Pupils are rewarded for bringing in healthy lunch boxes and instead of sending Christmas cards they give money to charity.

Carmarthenshire has the highest number of Platinum awards in Wales with Pentip becoming the county’s 17th Platinum school.

Executive Board Member for Technical Services Cllr Colin Evans said: “I would like to congratulate all the staff and pupils at Pentip for all their hard work to reduce their carbon footprint and look after the environment.

“The Platinum award is the ultimate achievement under the Eco Schools Programme so the work they are doing is really making a difference.”

The Eco Schools programme is run by the council’s waste and recycling section in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy and the National Botanic Garden of Wales.