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Primary 3Rs Activities |
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Bristol and North Somerset Schools
Our Education Team offer FREE workshops and assemblies to schools in Bristol and North Somerset. Please use the links on the right to contact your local Education Officer.
South Gloucestershire Schools
From January 2007 South Gloucestershire Council obtained funding from DEFRA to work in areas where households are not yet recycling very well. Our Education Team will be offering FREE input in schools in Kingswood, Bradley Stoke and Patchway during 2007.
Other South Gloucestershire schools should contact
Stephanie Dunn on 01454 333306 or stephanie.dunn@sita.co.uk with all questions / queries regarding recycling provision for schools and recycling education.
Schools in South Gloucestershire or other areas that would like to book our workshops and / or assemblies are welcome to contact the Education Team Leader to discuss their requirements and our daily fee.
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Assemblies
Our education officers deliver stimulating and thought provoking whole-school assemblies on a variety of 3Rs issues. Assemblies can be customised to meet your requirements; popular topics include:
- Launching a new recycling initiative - why do it, what will happen to the materials?
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- 3Rs reminder - particularly useful at the beginning of the school year.
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- Launching a composting scheme.
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- Christmas waste - how to have fun during the festive season without making lots of rubbish.
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- Themed weeks e.g., Science or Environment week.
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- Packed lunch waste - encouraging pupils to cut down on school waste by thinking about the contents of their lunch boxes.
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Please contact your local education officer to arrange for an assembly, or if you have another 3Rs theme that you would like to discuss.
Workshops
Our curriculum-linked workshops don't create any extra work for busy teachers. Our sessions are designed to take place in the classroom, with little or no reorganisation, and we'll bring all the resources we need. We work with one class at a time, and most workshops take between 1.25 and 1.5 hours, slotting easily into the normal school timetable.
Workshops are as 'hands on' and practical as possible. To help children spread the all-important 3Rs message to their family and friends, each workshop has something for pupils to take home at the end of the session.
Workshops are closely linked to the QCA schemes of work, but also work well in other contexts such as environment weeks. Please use the links below to find out more about individual workshops:
Audits
These workshops provide a wealth of cross-curricular learning opportunities for children from Y2 to Y6. The emphasis of each audit can be customised to suit the needs of the class and to maximise the links with other work. As well as the curriculum links detailed, these workshops also provide opportunities for:
- Team-work and collaboration.
- Maths in a practical context: mental addition, data handling, weighing, percentages.
- Literacy: opportunities for follow-up working using persuasive writing.
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| Waste audit |
This workshop is ideal for schools where paper recycling is not established. With careful attention to health and safety, pupils sort classroom rubbish according to the material it is made from. Younger pupils count how many pieces they have found of each material; older pupils can weigh it and calculate the percentage of each. This workshop is usually followed by an assembly to share the audit results with the rest of the school, and to launch paper recycling.
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Curriculum links |
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- Geography 8 Improving the Environment
- Science 2D Grouping and changing materials
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| Paper audit |
This workshop is for schools that are already recycling paper, and would like to review and improve the system. Pupils sort the contents of their recycling boxes, assessing contamination levels and considering whether paper has been fully used before being recycled. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Geography 8 Improving the Environment
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| Packed lunch waste audit |
Suitable for all schools, this workshop involves sorting the waste from packed lunches according to material. This leads to lively discussion on packaging, incorporating issues of 'reduce and 're-use' as well as 'recycle.' |
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Curriculum links |
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- Geography 8 Improving the Environment
- Science 2D Grouping and changing materials
- D&T 3A Packaging
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Click here to return to the curriculum links table
Materials workshops
| Y1, Y2 Materials |
A 'rubbish' feelie bag allows children to explore the properties of materials before deciding whether they should be put in the bin or not. Moving around the classroom, they act out the recycling of a can before making a fridge magnet to take home. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Science 1C Sorting and using materials
- Science 2D Grouping and changing materials
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For other workshops linked to Y2 materials see the section describing audits. |
| Y3 Materials |
An opportunity for children to get their hands on a number of common and no-so-common recycled materials, investigating their properties and considering how these influence their use. There is a major focus on the scientific language of materials and their characteristics. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Science 3D Characteristics of materials
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Click here to return to the curriculum links table
Composting workshops
| F, Y1 Minibeasts in the compost bin |
A active session of movement and fun. Imagining the school hall as a huge compost bin, pupils are transformed into wiggling worms, scuttling centipedes and slimy slugs. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Aspects of all six areas of learning during the Foundation Stage
- Science 1B Growing plants
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| Y1, Y2, Y3 Growing plants |
A very busy workshop exploring how mini-beasts living in a compost bin help to recycle the nutrients in green waste. Pupils plant a bedding plant in a re-used pot and observe fresh compost teems with minibeasts This session complements Y1 and Y2 Science work, or helps Y3 pupils revise what they know about plants before starting their investigative work. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Science 1B Growing plants
- Science 2B Plants and animals in the local environment
- Science 3B Helping plants grow well
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| Y4, Y5 Habitats and food chains |
Pupils observe live minibeasts, fresh from the compost bin, and use pictures to build up food chains for the compost bin habitat. |
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Curriculum links |
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| Y6 SATS revision |
Similar to 'Habitats and food chains,' this workshop also incorporates other areas of the science curriculum. It provides pupils with an interesting and fun way to revise scientific concepts and vocabulary prior to the KS2 SATS. |
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Curriculum links |
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- Science 4B Habitats
- Science 5C Gases around us
- Science 6A Interdependence and adaptation
- Science 6B Micro-organisms
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Click here to return to the curriculum links table
History workshop
| KS1, KS2 Victorian Toys |
Give your 'Victorians' topic a new lease of life with this workshop! Pupils compare replica toys from the Victorian period with those of their own. They consider what materials the toys are made out of, their durability,and the number of toys available to children. Having highlighted how materially well off we are today, they consider the environmental implications of our 'throwaway society.' |
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Curriculum links |
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- History 11 What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
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Click here to return to the curriculum links table
PSHE / Citizenship workshop
| KS2 House |
Pupils work in groups, expressing and listening to opinions, as they build an environmentally friendly house using colourful pictures. The topical issue they discuss and debate is: "How can we make less rubbish at home?" |
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Learning objectives |
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- Considering how our choices affect us, other people and the environment
- Listening, exchanging ideas and expressing opinions when working as a group
- Discussing topical issues, problems and events
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| Click here to return to the curriculum links table |
 For further information, click below.
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