Page 3 - Abberley Buzz - Issue 1

LATEST NEWS
Eco-Schools
We have joined the global Eco-Schools movement to ensure that, as a community, we are doing our bit to protect the planet. Eco-Schools is a global programme engaging millions of children across 64 different countries, making it the largest environmental schools programme in the world. We have taken our first steps by appointing a committee of pupil representatives. These committee members have already carried out an environmental review of the school and are coming up with an Action Plan focusing on three areas where they think we can make a significant difference.
The Abberley Eco Committee was formally appointed before Half Term after candidates had to submit letters detailing the reasons for which they would like to join the committee. One of the pupils said, “Our planet is precious and we
must protect it. It makes me feel sad to see litter on the floor, especially when we go for walks.” Another pupil wrote, “I want children of the future to live in a world where we still have trees, tigers and elephants and don’t have to wear pollution masks.”
Pupils from each year in the Prep School and in Years 1 and 2 have been selected and they are very excited to get started! Although we already do a lot to lower our carbon footprint such as composting our leftover food, growing our own veg and planting trees, we recognise that more can be done.
Mrs Besley will chair the committee, but the pupils will be the driving force behind making Abberley Hall a greener and more environmentally friendly school. The pupils are also keen to work more widely across the local area to make sure the impact is as big as it can be.
We will be keeping the community up to date with our progress so watch this space!
Covid Update
Infection rates have continued to reduce and the vaccination programme has been progressing well. Almost all our staff have been vaccinated now and many have received a second dose. The latest government guidance can be seen here and we continue to follow this closely. In line with the latest guidance, we no longer insist that our Year 7 and 8 children wear face coverings during lessons and we now invite parents to come in and watch their children playing home matches.
Despite the easing of restrictions, we will ensure that careful precautions are still taken. We will continue to operate with children in bubbles for the time being and prevent the mixing of bubbles wherever possible. When the children are outside in the fresh air, we are able to relax this slightly. Our senior pupils and our staff continue to undertake lateral flow covid testing twice a week, either at home or at school and we
will continue to adhere to the key principles set out by the government for schools.
Music Technology
We have created a new Music Technology Centre complete with MacBooks, Garageband and MIDI keyboards. The children in Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 have enjoyed learning how to use this software and this will become a part of each of our units of work in Music from now onwards.
BUZZ | ISSUE 1 3