Green Flag Award for LHS ( Published: 05/03/2020)
The projects are really exciting and all link to the ten themes of Eco-Schools. We have had amazing support from community groups, such as MEEN (Manchester Environmental Education Network), the Levenshulme Bee Network and Sustrans.
Joe from GMYN (Greater Manchester Youth Network), pictured with students from our Eco-Committee in 2020
Levenshulme Eco-Leaders are enthusiastic and committed, they are doing a great job.
Dr Caitlin Nunn, Research Fellow at Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, MMU
It is inspiring to see young people so passionate about climate change and improving the environment of both their school and their local community. It has been a pleasure working with such committed and enthusiastic young people.
Florence Todd Fordham, MEEN
Our Year 10s and 11s are working on a clean air and transport project. They won £500 funding from the GMYN (Greater Manchester Youth Network), which they have used to buy a “Flo”, which is a personal air pollution monitor and tracking app. They have been monitoring air pollution levels at keys points in the day and plan to use the data to persuade parents/carers of the health benefits of cycling or walking to school.
Our Year 9s are concentrating on the school grounds and biodiversity. They have arranged for trees to be planted on the school grounds and they are researching bee boxes as a future possibility. Our Year 7s and 8s are working on global citizenship themes. They are planning activities to do with the Eco-Leaders at Acacias Primary School, so we can link our learning.
Our Eco-Leaders have also been involved in the Manchester Climate Summits, not only attending, but leading and facilitating workshops. We have even had a group of students who last weekend went to take part in a ‘Youth Social Action Researcher’ (YSAR) training session at MMU. They received a full day of training that has prepared them to evaluate youth and play projects across Manchester over the next two months. They have also fulfilled the requirements for an AQA award in evaluation (Skills for a Young Assessor – Organisation and Planning) and begun work towards another in leadership (Introduction to Youth Leadership).
We are also thrilled to have been identified as a project that is ‘working well’, and we will be a case study for the ‘Young Manchester’ evaluation.
