Our Eco-Warriors are currently working towards gaining the Eco-Schools green flag award! 

At Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School, we believe that small actions can lead to big changes, and we're excited to take steps toward a greener, more sustainable future. Our Climate Action Plan is all about creating a positive impact on the environment while inspiring our students, staff, and families to work together for a cleaner, healthier world. From reducing waste to saving energy, we are committed to making eco-friendly choices that will benefit not only our school but the surrounding community. By embracing these efforts, we hope to encourage everyone at Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School to become climate champions and help build a brighter, more sustainable tomorrow.

We would love to share our Climate Action plan with you below.

Adaption and Resilience

Our school has fitted solar film on our windows. 

Installing solar film on windows helps regulate indoor temperatures by reducing heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter. This reduces the reliance on heating systems, leading to lower energy consumption and improved comfort in our classrooms. Solar film also reduces glare, protects furniture from UV damage, and extends the lifespan of interior materials by preventing sun-related wear.

Biodiversity 

Join Community Initiatives 

Community environmental initiatives such as tree planting, litter picking, or local green space protection projects can provide excellent opportunities for us to make a positive impact on our local environment.

Our Eco Warriors have been working alongside the Wakefield Council rangers based at Newmillerdam to remove invasive species of weeds that are taking over the area. As you can see, we were very successful! 

We cannot wait to continue this relationship.

 

We have also been working alongside St Helen's church for the Great Big Green Week! 

The children had a great time investigating the grounds, identifying different plants and our Governor, Julian even planted a new tree that will always be a mark of when our Eco Warriors came to St Helens Church in June 2026. What an incredible way to mark our work!

                                     

Create a Wildflower Garden

Our children have planted seeds for a wildflower garden at the front of our school. We are hoping to take a wasted piece of grass and create a new space for pollinators within the school grounds. 

     

In order to protect our new wildflower garden, we have some fabulous new signs that have been put up as a reminder to the community. Thank you Hetty for creating such a fabulous sign!

                   

Our Wild areas

Alongside our wildflower garden, we have some wild areas across our school grounds to provide important habitats for wildlife to thrive. These areas are fenced off and are no longer mowed or cut back, creating perfect spaces. 

                        

 

Tree planting

Within our wild areas, we have been planting some new trees that will grow and help to replace some we unfortunately lost during the storms. The Woodland trust have helped us through their ongoing initiatives. 

   

 

Litter 

Our Litter picking! 

Our Eco Warriors have been working hard to complete litter picks around our school grounds during their playtime or lunchtimes.  The children have taken great care to ensure the grounds are a safe place for us to play and for animals to thrive. 

Here is our Summer term rota:

 

Energy

Lights out!

Our Eco Warriors and caretaker team noticed that lots of lights were being left on in some areas of school. As an Eco team, we wanted to highlight this issue to our school. 

We were given a secret mission to move around school during playtime and lunchtimes in order to discover who was leaving their lights on when no one was in the room. Or teams were given stickers to place on the switches that were being left on. We were shocked by the results! 

  

We shared our findings in an assembly to show people how often they are leaving their classroom lights on. 

Since sharing the results, we have seen that people are taking more care to turn off their lights.

 

Our Eco Code

Our Eco Warriors have met to create their new Eco Code that we will be aiming to follow within our school. We hope you agree and help us to take action and make a change!

      

 

Below you can find the minutes for some of our meetings: