Oswestry School – Bellan House goes ‘green’ with their second eco fair

27 Mar 2017

Over 75 children from primary schools across Shropshire attended the second annual eco fair held Oswestry School and organised by pupils from Bellan House. The fair gives young people and adults an opportunity to think about green ideas and how to preserve the earth for the next generation.

Severn Trent Water gave a presentation to the children on water usage in both the UK and abroad while a representative from Severn Rivers Trust gave attendees an opportunity to find bugs. Friends of the Earth discussed how to preserve precious bees with correct and imaginative planting and there was a lesson in composting. Old Oswestrian and proprietor of Mile End Golf Course, Richard Thompson, shared his work to help our environment while the RSPB offered trays of owl pellets for the children to discover minute skulls and bones.

At a specially sited ‘eco tree’ children wrote eco pledges to hang from the branches while inside thirsts were quenched with berry smoothies created by pedal power.

Year 5 and 6 pupils from Bellan House mini enterprise sat at ‘talk tables’ and explained their recent recycling projects including golf ball paperweights, microwave hot socks and plant holders made from plastic bottles. They were joined by a representative from the British Ironwork Centre promoting their tin recycling project whereby they are aiming to create a bust of Her Majesty the Queen from tens of thousands of cans collected from schools.

Finally, Year 4 pupils from Bellan House discussed the ethos behind the John Muir awards they are currently working to achieve. John Muir Awards are a national

environmental award based around the concept of discovering, exploring and sharing experiences of wild places. The award encourages people of all backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places through a structured yet adaptable scheme. Although it is not competitive it does challenge each participant by encouraging awareness and responsibility for the natural environment, in a spirit of fun.

Head of Bellan House, Mrs Karen Lentink, commented, “It has been wonderful to see so local primary schools attend this event and share in the buzz of green conversation. The aim was to ask young people and adults to think carefully about preserving the earth for the next generation through lots of learning and a great deal of fun!”