Food sharing helps Watten nursery earn green flag award
Children and staff at a Caithness nursery have been celebrating securing their third Eco-Schools Scotland Green Flag Award.
The charity-run Watten Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) centre received the award from Keep Scotland Beautiful which recognised their hard work and innovation making their centre a more environmentally friendly place.
The assessors praised the work around the topic of food, especially “sourcing local food, reducing plastic waste in snack boxes, developing an understanding of where food comes from and learning that some people – both at home and abroad – don’t have the same access to food” and highlighting that these were great opportunities for the children to learn.
The nursery’s intergenerational work, which included sharing the vegetables they had grown at the ELC with older residents of the village, was highlighted as was the "recycling robot" called Riley which has had a makeover and was being used well to support the children's learning about recycling.
The feedback also praised the setting’s work on reducing litter, including making signs, as well as reducing their use of soft plastics at the centre.
Watten ELC, which is run by the Care and Learning Alliance (CALA), is located in Watten village hall and opens during term time for children aged two years, nine months to primary school age.
Jaci Douglas, chief executive of CALA said: “This is such great news that the hard work and dedication of the children and staff at Watten ELC has been recognised by the Keep Scotland Beautiful team.
"This work supports the children to become 'global citizens' by exploring and gaining understanding of their impact on the earth and provides great examples of responsible consumption and changing habits for the better within their community. A huge well done again to everyone at Watten ELC as well as to the parents, carers and wider community who has supported them.”
The Green Flag Award is a visible indication of a school or learning centre's commitment to "Learning for Sustainability" and an internationally recognised accreditation for excellence in sustainable education. It is operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful in Scotland.