Eco Action Policy
In March 2021 the PTA/Parent Council of Hillhead Primary in Glasgow created an Eco Action Policy. Its chief purpose is for it to inform PTA activities, but it has also helped them to focus their communications with the rest of the school and external organisations like the City Council.
There was already broad agreement across the PTA Council on wanting to be mindful of the environment but the Policy aimed to ensure that everyone knew what that meant in practise. The Chair drafted something then sent it round to all members. There was a quick discussion but it was agreed quite quickly. They didn’t include any staff members in this but would recommend doing this, to make it more of a joint project.
The Policy was then launched at a PTA meeting and one outcome already has been that the school have signed up to the Lets Go Zero carbon-reduction project. The Policy can be seen in full if you watch this video but in a nutshell it makes four pledges:
1. to set up a parent 'Eco Sub Group' that supports the pupil eco group
2. to assess the environmental impacts of all PTA-led activities
3. to embed sustainability into school activities like one-off events, classroom activities and extracurricular activities
4. to communicate the policy to external bodies like the City Council, where they help the PC achieve its 'eco' aims - for example they have drafted a Statement of Support to the City Council that outline how the council can help make the roads around the school less congested.
All activities are relayed to the wider school community via a newsletter.