Recycle Week Case Study: Pensby Primary School, The Wirral

This Recycle Week, change is in our own hands and our Glass Guardians programme has sparked a number of little acts of activism. The second case study comes courtesy of Pensby Primary School in the Wirral.

Maths, Science and English are important, fascinating subjects – but perhaps not always thought of as fun by some. Fortunately for the children in Year 4 at Pensby Primary School in the Wirral, fun is exactly the best way to describe their experience of the three disciplines as they took part in Glass Guardians.

Lucy Tappin is Trainee Teacher at Pensby and explains “The Glass Guardians activities included a bit of everything – maths, science and English. For example, we had been just about to start on statistics so understanding statistics in the context of glass, what it’s made of, its recyclability and reusability and so on, was very interesting and perfect timing for us. We also have an ‘Ambitious Words’ English project running through the year and so we selected our favourite quotes from the exercises and put them up around the room”.

From an environmental learning perspective, Glass Guardians was a good fit for Pensby School too. The school has its own Eco-Council and recently the whole school went single-use plastic free. “We’re very involved with environmental activities here” says Lucy “We participate in an area-wide project called Coast to Country which highlights the importance of protecting nature and wildlife”.

“The children loved learning about the benefits of recycling glass and its environmentally friendly properties which fitted in with what they have been learning elsewhere. They are passionate about the environment and have been inspired to speak to grown-ups about what they have been discovering about glass”.

Lucy thought the workbooks provided for each child were brilliant and easy to follow, but she feels one of the most useful aspects of Glass Guardians was the way it prompted the children to go online and research information about glass for themselves. “The website links were great and very well signposted. I researched them all personally before setting tasks for the children and found out some really interesting facts that were new to me”. It seems Glass Guardians helped the teacher have some fun too!

Pensby Primary School aren’t the only ones who have made a difference through our Glass Guardians programme. Take a look at our other case studies from around the country this Recycle Week.