Sunderland school shortlisted for national environmental award for its pupil-led well-being group

A secondary school in Sunderland has been named as finalists of the Environmental Practice Award 2022.
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St Aidan’s Catholic Academy, which is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, has been shortlisted for the Environmental Practice Award in the 2022 Education Business Awards.

The accolade is awarded to a school project that can demonstrate a benefit to the environment and the environmental education of its pupils.

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St Aidan’s was shortlisted for its pupil-led wellbeing group that has developed environmental and health initiatives which includes the group’s work to make the school plastic-free, which is now officially accredited by Surfers Against Sewage.

St Aidan's Wellbeing Group.St Aidan's Wellbeing Group.
St Aidan's Wellbeing Group.

The group has also been involved in creating a new community allotment where the produce grown is used to make school meals for students and is given to the school food bank which provides food supplies to the local community and to the community group at St Mary’s Open House.

As part of their green initiative, St Aidan’s pupils have written an environmental policy for the school, created a group of school stewards and organised local litter picking.

Once the allotment is completely finished, the community space is set to include a children’s area, sensory experiences, and wellbeing areas.

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The space will be accessible to all and the school plans to organise gardening clubs, for children and the elderly.

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Brendan Tapping, CEO at BCCET, said: “It’s wonderful news to hear that St Aidan’s has been shortlisted for such a prestigious national environment award. Across our entire Trust, we actively promote environmentalism, encouraging our pupils and our staff to reduce their carbon footprint.

"As a Catholic academy, our aim is to instil within our pupils the moral duty of stewardship and pupils at St Aidan’s have worked so hard to make their school more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

“The wellbeing group has done some great work too in highlighting the importance of physical and mental wellbeing, something that’s become even more important following the pandemic. It’s great to see that their efforts are being recognised. Let’s hope we get to celebrate more good news when the awards night arrives.”

The award ceremony is due to take place at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London on June 15.

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