SWAC educational programme
What else does Nottinghamshire SWAC do
What they say - responses to the project from schools
Contact

Nottinghamshire Schools Waste Action Club (SWAC) is a free waste education programme provided to primary, secondary and special needs schools throughout Nottinghamshire.

The project is delivered by Nottinghamshire County Council and its principal aims are to:

• increase awareness of waste and its management among school staff and pupils
• encourage and support schools to reduce, reuse and recycle waste
• transfer the knowledge gained by pupils and staff from working on waste at school to achieve increasingly sustainable waste management in the home.

The project, which started in December 2001, has two Education Officers who work directly with pupils. Nottinghamshire SWAC has worked with over 150 schools.

SWAC activities are linked to the National Curriculum, the Healthy Schools programme and the Eco Schools initiative.

SWAC Educational Programme

Following an Initial Planning Meeting with school staff, SWAC is introduced to pupils through the School Dustbin Assembly which makes use of a giant wheelie bin to introduce the programme and the concept of sustainable waste management to the whole school.

The SWAC assembly

The SWAC Officer then works with a carefully chosen class or group to plan and carry out an Initial Waste Audit of the school's waste. One day's worth of waste from across the school is sorted into material types and weighed. This provides a 'snapshot' of the school's rubbish and shows the materials and areas which the school most needs to address.

The SWAC Waste Audit Activity at Brinsley Primary School

Using data from the waste audit, the SWAC officer works with students and staff to develop a School Waste Minimisation Action Plan.

What effect does SWAC have on school waste?
Once a Waste Minimisation Action Plan has been drawn up with the school, it is then their responsibility to implement it. However, they are not left to do this on their own but are offered further support by the SWAC Officer in the form of Action Plan Updates Visits.

Between 6 and 12 months after their initial period of work with SWAC, schools are offered a Repeat Waste Audit to assess the effectiveness of their Action Plan. These audits have shown significant reductions in waste going to landfill or incineration. In addition, the data collected from repeat audits is used to develop further actions (Action Plan II) to minimise school waste.

What else does Nottinghamshire SWAC do?

SWAC offers schools a wide range of additional activity sessions, all exploring the theme of waste minimisation. These both broaden the range of activities offered by the project and involve classes and year groups not directly involved in the core programme. Nottinghamshire SWAC additional activities include:

• storytime - foundation classes learn about how to re-use and recycle rubbish
• sorting rubbish - Key Stage 1 children sort 'rubbish' into material types and learn about what each group can be recycled into
• paper making - practically exploring the environmental benefits of making recycled paper

Ben Bradshaw MP making recycled paper with pupils from Woodborough Woods Primary School Autumn 2006.

• composting - making a mini composting bottle to observe the process over a period of time
• the wonderful world of worms - children observe composting worms close up and learn about how a wormery works
• the Rubbish Challenge - a giant 'board game' reinforcing the 3Rs message

The Rubbish Challenge at Brinsley Primary School

• designing a waste free lunch -a challenge to create a packed lunch or picnic with a minimal amount of waste

A waste-free lunch

The project has also:

• organised visits by primary and secondary schools to local waste management sites.
• delivered teacher training, both to individual schools and to teachers from groups of schools
• organised and taken part in special events and competitions.

Thorpe Winners at Waste World Cup Event Summer Term 2006

Rubbish Monster Competition Winner - Spring Term 2006

What they say - responses to the project from schools

• The response to Nottinghamshire SWAC from schools has been excellent with nearly 100% of evaluations rating the content and delivery of its activities as good to excellent.
• “Throughout the waste audit children showed a good understanding of which areas in school generated waste and of what materials.  Practical exercise of sorting waste supported their understanding.  All the children really enjoyed the session and all were kept busy and on task”    St Swithun’s Primary School - Waste Audit.
• "Excellent practical activities, all children very clear about what can be recycled. Excellent and enjoyable session – Thank you!” Kimberley Primary School – Sorting Materials
• “Very clear – loved the practical approach! Clear labels and good explanation.” Kimberley Primary School – Waste Assembly
• “Excellent hands on activity. The kids really enjoyed themselves and learnt about the value of recycling.” Porchester Junior School – Paper Making
• “SWAC was an excellent catalyst to our litter and recycling initiative.  The assembly set the scene and the action planning with the School Council following the audit provided a very useful framework which we can now build on throughout the year.”  The Brunts Secondary School
• “The trip [to the incinerator] has been a really good opportunity for our students to see the process for themselves and to develop their understanding of waste management” Trinity Secondary School.

Contact

Nottinghamshire SWAC is fully supported by Veolia Environmental Services, Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and the area's 7 District & Borough Councils.

If your school is interested in getting involved with the SWAC please contact the SWAC officers on swac@nottscc.gov.uk Mob: 07764 269 135 or 07949 760642.

For information on Eco Schools, please visit the Environmental Education Support Service website at www.eess.org.uk for background information, useful contacts and guidance documents.