Green School
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, RecycleColdfall is a Green School
At Coldfall Primary School we continually strive to be an Eco-friendly school. In 2008, Coldfall became the first Haringey School to be awarded the prestigious Green Flag for our work with children on sustainable development and living.
We also proud to announce that we have recently achieved our Gold Level Accreditation from the TFL Stars community project
Active School Travel Policy
We have six Year 5 Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) made up of keen pupils whose job it is to make travelling to school safer and more active. They help organise and run associated events as well as carry out surveys and report back to our Star Squad, other members of the school community and TfL.
This school travel policy explains how we encourage active travel to school. For pupils unable to come by foot, scooter or bike, we like to encourage use of public transport, car-share or use of the 5 or 10 minute walk zone.
Some of the benefits of active travel:
- Improving both mental and physical health through physical activity
- Establishing positive active travel behaviour
- Promoting independence and improving safety awareness
- Reducing congestion, noise and pollution in the community
- Reducing the environmental impact of the journey to school.
To encourage pupils to cycle, scoot or walk to school frequently the school will:
- Actively promote cycling, scooting and walking as a positive way of travelling
- Celebrate the achievements of those who cycle, scoot and walk to school
- Provide cycle and scooter storage on the school site
- Provide high quality cycle training to all Year 6 pupils who wish to participate.
To make cycling, scooting and walking to and from school a positive experience for everybody concerned, we expect our pupils to:
- Wear a cycle helmet
- Ride and walk sensibly and safely and to follow the Highway Code and Green Cross Code using patrol personnel, zebra crossings etc when available
- Check that their bicycle or scooter is roadworthy and regularly maintained
- Behave in a manner which shows them and the school in the best possible light and to consider the needs of others when cycling or scooting
- Ensure they can be seen by other road users, by using lights and wearing high-visibility clothing, as appropriate
- Dismount bicycles and scooters at the school gate and walk inside the school grounds.
For the well-being of our pupils, we expect parents and carers to:
- Encourage their child to walk, cycle or scoot to school whenever possible
- Encourage their child to take up opportunities to develop their competence and confidence in cycling or scooting
- Consider cycling, scooting and walking with their child on the school run; possibly joining with other families as a ‘cycle train’
- Provide their child with equipment such as high-visibility clothing, lights, a lock and essentially a cycle helmet as appropriate
- Ensure that the bicycles and scooters ridden to school are roadworthy and regularly maintained.
Please note: The decision as to whether a child is competent to cycle, scoot or walk safely to and from school rests with the parent(s)/carer(s). The school has no liability for any consequences of that decision. Parents are advised to take out appropriate insurance cover for bikes (check home insurance) as the school’s insurance does not cover any loss or damage to bicycles and scooters. They are left entirely at the owner’s risk. We therefore recommend that bikes and scooters are padlocked appropriately and collected at the end of each day.
Thank you to all of the families now parking and striding down Coldfall Avenue which has improved the safety around the school gate tremendously and made the experience of walking to school much more enjoyable for many families. We are still in a consultation phase of the School Street and Haringey Council are keen to gather feedback from the school community. We would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the online survey which is short and simple to complete (it should take no more than 5 minutes).
The link is: https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=161494440846 .
The main webpage is: https://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/travel/smarter-travel/school-streets/have-your-say
As a school we promote walking to school. Coldfall has launched an exciting travel initiative called the ’10 minute walk zone’ . The aim of the zone is to encourage as many families as possible to walk either all or part of the way to school. If you do need to drive, please try to park outside of the 10 minute walk zone and walk the rest of the way.
Remember that walking to school is one of the easiest ways to improve your family’s health and well being. You will also be helping to ease the congestion around the school entrances and make it much safer for children as they approach the school gates. Best of all, it’s free!
We have mapped out a 10 minute walk zone to school and encourage everyone to walk a little each day even if they are driven part of the way!
On 18th March 2020 we successfully renewed our International Eco-Schools Award. Work towards renewing our Green Flag status involved a multitude of aspects such as looking after the school grounds by increasing biodiversity, reducing cars around the school entrances and making the roads safer by campaigning to stop drivers from dropping passengers on the zig zags and raising awareness of environmental issues. Pupils have also learnt about lots of different environmental topics such as air pollution and global warming as part of the school curriculum.
Below is our Green Charter:
The great thing about the Green Flag award is that the Eco Schools Programme is continually being improved and now reassessment is required every year so it is a process of continuous improvement towards being sustainable. Watch this space to find out where we will take our Eco-School next!
One of our aims is for children to grow up understanding their responsibility towards each other and our environment. Children are the future generation; they are the future leaders and citizens of our planet. It is therefore vital that they develop an appreciation for the earth and a desire to protect it. In order to achieve this, the school incorporates ‘green’ teaching and learning activities into its everyday practice and some lessons are conducted outside.
Star Squad
Star Squad
We have an Eco-team (named the Star Squad) which consists of 18 children who meet weekly to help make our school eco-friendlier. There is a representative from each class from Years 1 – 6.
One of the projects the Star Squad undertook this year to help maintain our Green Flag status was they campaigned to make Coldfall Avenue a School Street (the aim of which was to make our school journeys safer and healthier and improve the air quality around our school). This involved working alongside the Council and conducting traffic surveys to gather evidence. We were thrilled when a trial School Street was set up in April and have been really encouraged by all of the positive feedback from parents and children about how much safer the street feels.
Star Squad keep an eye out for litter and if it becomes a problem we conduct a litter pick around the school grounds and also in Coldfall Woods so that we can help our community.
In addition to all of the hard work that the Star Squad does, each class has Eco-monitors who help with the recycling and remind their peers to switch off the lights when they are not needed. Children are made aware of the value of paper and are encouraged to ensure all paper is used carefully and fully.
Lunches and Food Waste
Our school lunch menu is very healthy with Monday being a meat-free day. We grow a range of fruit and vegetables in our allotment for use in our food technology room. Learning about cooking is one of the children’s favourite activities and it is particularly rewarding when they get to sample produce that they have helped to grow.
We aim to reduce food waste at Coldfall and have food waste bins in the dining hall which are collected by the Council for composting. We also encourage children who bring food from home to use reusable containers instead of plastic bags and cling film. Our ultimate goal is to have waste free lunches. In addition, we have a 3 bin composting system in our allotment which encourages children to recycle organic waste from their morning snacks.
School Uniform and Solar Panels
The school has solar panels installed to help reduce its energy consumption and has introduced a range of other energy saving measures.
We even have an Eco-friendly school uniform. It is made from 100% pure organic cotton, is Eco-friendly (no nasty chemicals are used in its production) and ethically and sustainably produced in socially compliant factories certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards).
We welcome parents’ support in developing our green agenda.
Watch the video below to see a tour around our allotment.
Green News
Coldfall School Street
At Coldfall we are continually striving to make the roads around our school safer which is why we are thrilled that as of Monday 19th April 2021, Coldfall Avenue is now a School Street. A School Street is where a walking and cycling zone is created outside a...