Environment & Sustainability
We encourage staff and students to take part in regular activities, initiatives and competitions to celebrate and promote our Eco Values and Sustainability as a whole school community.
Eco-School Green Flag Award
MHSG's Eco-Committee has once again been successful in meeting the requirements for the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award, this year with Distinction!
Many thanks to all students and staff who were involved in this rigorous accreditation process.
The Eco-Schools judges said: "It’s fantastic that you have such a large Eco-Committee in your school, it shows that your pupils clearly care about our planet and all plants, animals, and insects that live on it.
"It is great to see how you incorporated environmental issues into all aspects of your school activities and we enjoyed reading about your range of activities within your curriculum. Staff members in your school are willing to go above and beyond to include these important issues in pupil’s learning.
"Your Eco-Committee take pride in their achievements and are working hard to involve and educate all around them. The work achieved by the Eco-Team with the support of the whole school has been a huge success with a positive impact on your pupilsand leaves a great legacy to build upon."
"We have loved reading about your journey and are incredibly impressed by all you have achieved. We have no hesitation in awarding you an Eco-Schools Green Flag with Distinction, congratulations!"
Our Eco Code at MHSG
Across our Preparatory School and Senior School, we have adopted the MHSG Eco Code.
Our pupils choose three topics to focus on in our Eco Code each academic year.
For the 2022-23 academic year, our themes are Biodiversity, Litter and Waste.
Our Preparatory School's pupil Eco Representatives focused on answering the following questions to create this academic years' Eco Code:
- How do we protect and encourage biodiversity at MHSG?
- How do we prevent litter at MHSG?
- How we can reduce our waste at MHSG?
From their answers, we have created this year's Eco Code, as below.
BIODIVERSITY
We commit to protect and encourage biodiversity by:
- Doing “Park and Walk” when we can;
- Increasing the numbers of birdfeeders;
- Understanding what animals need;
- Finding out more about our environment;
- Creating a bug hotel;
- Planting more tree and sewing wildflower seeds.
LITTER
We commit to reduce or even stop litter by:
- Picking up litter at school and in our wider community;
- Recycling and re-using as much as possible;
- Doing assemblies on the topic of litter;
- Labelling our bins more effectively;
- Having more 'no-waste' weeks;
- Avoiding plastic water bottles.
WASTE
We commit to reduce our waste by:
- Using less single-use plastic;
- Organising swap shops;
- Keeping communication between school and home;
- Ensuring that we use the recycling bins correctly;
- Having eco-signs in every classrooms
Among other activities to support our Eco Code, pupils and staff take part in a weekly litter picking club in nearby Platt Fields Park, organise termly clothes swaps, make use of separated general waste and recycling waste bins, avoid printing documents where possible and support local food banks and food collection points to avoid food wastage.
Our brand new servery and updated kitchen facilities are fully electric and we have a bio-digestor food composting facility on site.
Our Marketing & Development Team is in charge of all school merchandise and MHSG branded items are recyclable and/or recycled, where possible.
Recycling Stationary
After a successful year of collection, we are going to carry on recycling stationary and empty crisp packets in the 2023-2024 academic year within school.
The collection points are as follows:
- The stationary collection box will be in E26, in the Prep Hall and in the Staff Room. We accept the following items for recycling:
- The collection box for empty crisp packets can be found in the Dining Room and in the Prep Hall. All crisp packets must be cleaned before being placed in the collection boxes.
Eco Day
Our students enjoyed a fantastic Eco Day in July.
Read all about it, in their own words, below!
Year 7
Year 7 were asked to carry out a research project in groups concerning a range of environmental issues, focusing on the 3 eco topics for this year, from the damage to turtles’ environments to overfishing. At the end of their allotted research time, they presented their findings to the class and what solutions there are to solve these issues.
Year 8
Earthshot Prize:
The Year 8’s were tasked with brainstorming different environmental issues, deciding on one, and coming up with a solution to solve the problem. They created some PowerPoint presentations to be able to show their classmates what the issue they chose was, and proposals on solving it!
Spirited Arts:
Spirited Arts is a competition that runs every year that gives students an opportunity to be creative and imaginative in Religious studies. The students were explained that many religions thank God for nature. Learners are invited to explore the ideas and beliefs about the natural world, animals and the environment. This year, our Year 8 students were encouraged to focus on our three eco topics: marine; biodiversity and waste. Some students chose fine arts and other went for graphics to express their ideas.
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Year 9
Wind Turbines:
Year 9 were making wind turbines as a form of sustainable energy and they found it ‘really fun’ and thought the up-cycling earlier in the day was very innovative.
Recycling fabric:
Year 9 were shown how to use left-over fabric from previous projects and their sewing skills to make key rings.
Artwork:
The Year 9 students created art inspired by Angus Goldsworthy using the resources available on the School’s ground, which allowed the students to see the beauty of nature available on our school’s ground. The students were working around the artist’s quote: “We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.” Andy Goldsworthy.
Fruit batteries:
Year 9 made electricity using fruit and vegetables.
Year 10
Documentaries & 'Greenwashing':
To celebrate Eco Day, Year 10 watched a David Attenborough programme about wildlife in the ocean and wrote a song about climate change. Additionally, some members of the year group created friendship bracelets, which they plan to sell on Sports Day to raise money for their house charities.
Sophia described the talk that Mr Chisnall made about 'greenwashing': “Overall, I thought Mr Chisnall's talk was good, and I liked that he focused on making sure we aren't supporting brands that are 'greenwashing'.
"I think this is a prevalent issue in the fashion industry at the moment, with many brands hopping on the 'environmentally friendly' trend, when in fact, they are not as sustainable as they claim. I thought it was a good idea to direct this talk to our age group and bring this issue to our attention, as young people/teenagers are more likely to follow trends and support 'fashionable' brands without questioning whether their claims are true (me included).
"Hopefully, now that we are all aware of 'greenwashing', more girls might check a brand's true credentials before buying.”
Eco Politics:
Year 10 were invited to consider the policies put forward by our government and other political parties as part of their election campaign and their impacts on the ecology.
Tina said: “We had four main issues to work on: the Clean Air Zone in Manchester, rewilding animals in the UK, the sewage problem and the idea of Net Zero. Mr Clarke explained what the idea of 'Net Zero' is, in simple terms, which I personally found quite beneficial. It is a very popular issue, especially in politics, with various parties of the UK pledging different steps towards the 'Net Zero' goal.
"I thought that the topics chosen for us to talk and discuss about were good, as they directly impact us and the area we live in.
"My group were assigned to work on the Clean Air Zone topic. I had few opinions about the matter and was therefore able to learn a lot both from hearing others' views; including how it can impact those unable to afford 'greener' cars and how it can greatly impact smaller businesses lacking funds. We can all have our own opinions about the different issues when there are points to argue for both sides.
"With the issue of rewilding, a lot of the time people focus on only the rewilding of wolves and people are not aware of the other animals which would highly benefit our eco-system if they were to be re-introduced.
"The sessions really broadened my views on the subjects.”
Year 12
Nature Documentary Making:
Year 12 were shown a few examples of nature videos and the different ways to go about creating a nature documentary (for example using a voice-over, akin to David Attenborough, or active filming techniques). They were then tasked with making a video of the biodiversity to be found in the School’s grounds.
Stitched-Up:
Year 12 were also invited to work with a local business, Stitched-Up, who showed them how to upcycle their denim with embroidery or appliqué.
iPad Donations
Our IT team recently donated 25 retired MHSG iPads, that had come to the end of their life for school use, to SharpFutures.
The project is based in Newton Heath, and is a social enterprise that supports diverse talent into employment in the creative digital sector, by offering a range of training courses, apprenticeships and placements.
SharpFutures helps people from diverse backgrounds develop their creative digital skills and broaden their employment opportunities.
They work with young people from primary school to further education, as well as those not in education or training in Newton Heath, across Greater Manchester and beyond.
A spokesperson from SharpFutures told MHSG that the donated iPads are set to be used to deliver digital skills development for the schools and young people the project works with.
The project aims to engage and inspire young people regarding the opportunities in the creative digital sector.
