Earth Alliance Group
We have many aims which we would like to complete, not only on a school level but on a much wider scale throughout the academy, and we hope to influence other schools and our local community to go more green as well.
Watch this space for updates and goals that we will set for 2023.
Meet the Team
Hello, I am Joelyn, and I am one of the new Earth Alliance leaders of 2024. I am so grateful to be given such a wonderful opportunity to lead the school and advocate for our local environment.
I hope that while I am in this position, I will aid the school in its steps towards becoming eco-friendlier and more sustainable whistle making sure that any changes and improvements made will be long-term and help the Earth Alliance leaders in the upcoming years with their own aspirations.
For this year, we strive to continue Ella and Lucy’s, Our previous Earth Alliance Leaders of 2023, work. Such examples are reducing the plastic used and wasted in the school cafeteria, getting regular readings from our smart meters and then plan forward some actions we can take to decrease the amount of energy the school is using. We also would love to continue visits to Derriford hospital for litter picking.
My goal for this year is to raise enough money so that we can plant various shrubs around our school to decrease our carbon footprint. To raise this money, I wish to enrol PHSG into a ‘Sustainable Schools’ programme which will allow the school to raise some funds.
I am so excited to see what opportunities I will be given during 2024 and I also cannot wait to work with the rest of the school and those in the trust to improve our environment. Feel free to e-mail me: jga02@tstatstudent.org.uk or give us a follow and send a text on the EA Instagram: @earthalliance.phsg
Hi everyone, I am Faye and I am one of the Earth Alliance leaders of 2024. I am really grateful to be given this opportunity to help make our school more sustainable and reduce the carbon footprint of PHSG. I would also like to create a greener space for learning and to spread the awareness about protecting the environment.
As an EA team, we will continue the previous projects such as using smart meters, litter picking in Derriford Hospital and spreading the ideas of buying second hand prom dresses.
My aim in this year is to reduce waste and energy usage in our school. I hope we can spread the ideas of energy conservation and 5 R concepts (refuse, reduce, reuse, replace and recycle) all over the Trust. Besides that, I would like to grow more small plants in classrooms along any windowsill which can make our school greener with fresh air.
I believe that if everybody makes a small change in their life such as using reusable bag, there will be a huge positive impact on the earth! Feel free to email me hcn18@tsatstudent.org.uk
Celebrating World Earth Day
As we approach World Earth Day on April 22nd, it's time for us to reflect on the actions PHSG have taken to support the environment.
Actions that Earth Alliance have done to support the environment:
This year, we are delighted to collaborate with B&Q aimed at growing more plants at school to improve our environment. Earth Alliance also did litter picking in school and we are planning to do litter picking outside school and at Derriford Hospital during Summer!
We thank last year's leaders Ella and Lucy for doing a great job in removing single-use plastic in the canteen and changing all bulbs into LEDs across the whole school to support the environment by reducing plastic usage and conserving energy.
The Call to Action:
As a school, we will join the Trust-wide shut down at 12:30-12:40 on April 22nd. We will switch off the lights and unplug the laptops. It's a small but simple effort that can have a big impact on saving energy. Let's see how much we will save with a 10-minute switch off!
We also invite you to join us in celebrating World Earth Day by taking simple yet impactful actions in your daily life. Whether it's reducing plastic usage, conserving energy, or supporting eco-friendly businesses, every small effort counts towards building a more sustainable future.
Why not have a digital clean up? Storing emails contribute to your carbon footprint, so why not take 5 minutes to delete old unnecessary emails?
Lastly, the deadline for the Trust-wide banner competition is on the 26th of April. Please read the previous email for more information. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us hcn18@tsatstudent.org.uk jga02@tsatstudent.org.uk
Conclusion:
Each one of us has the responsibility to build a more sustainable future for Earth and all its inhabitants. By working together, every small simple effort can make a big impact. Let Earth Day serve as a reminder of our shared responsibility and the power of collective action in safeguarding our planet.
A recap on Earth Alliance achievements for 2024 - 2025
This year, Earth Alliance has done many things to help our aim of sustainability and felt the need to recap on what we have done this year.
Throughout the year, Earth Alliance had discussed actions that we could take to help our environment and spread awareness of sustainability. In one of those we recycled some old planters, giving them a new purpose of being filled with a variety of flowers donated by our local B&Q as we collaborated with them. We placed these planters around the courtyard in hopes of reminding them of the beauty of nature and serving as a reminder to preserve our environment. Earth Alliance also collaborated with the DT team in creating a planter specially made for the school’s 150th anniversary. The planter turned out wonderful with donated flowers and hanging planters. The planter is placed outside of the reception as a show of the school's long and outstanding history and a symbol of how Plymouth High cares for the surrounding area.
However, Earth Alliance’s involvement is not strictly on just plants. We take monthly smart meter readings and compare the school’s energy usage and suggest ways to combat this problem.
Collaborating with Derriford hospital allowed us to create a piece of art depicting health by using recycled materials collected from both students and the hospital. We aim to have this finished and set up in either the school or in the hospital.
We are also planning to have an educational litter pick at Derriford this autumn. We have also aimed to spread awareness about our impact and what we can do to help be more sustainable. We did this by presenting to all the years on multiple occasions and on different concerns and topics, such as; Earth Day 2024, World Environment Day and an assembly about updates updated changes to school printing.
PHSG is a pilot school for printing limits within the Trust. Since September, there have been limits on the amount a student is allowed to print depending on what year you are in and subject based. We hope to reduce paper wastage and usage by doing this.
Despite the work done in our school, we also aim to expand the awareness across the whole of the South-west which is why Earth Alliance attends three yearly meetings with other schools in the Trust to discuss ways in which PHSG can improve on but also listen to the other schools’ ideas on what they will be implementing and allows us to be inspired and collaborate with each other to create a bigger impact of helping our environment.
Not only this, but we have also hosted a summer conference in which we invited a guest speaker, Dr. Dailey from Plymouth University to discuss actions that other schools in the Trust can take to specifically help in reducing a plethora of things such as electricity and energy, but also to exchange ideas that all schools are able to do to improve the schools’ sustainability and perhaps their local area too. We hope that next year, Earth Alliance can continue to grow and suggest changes that can better our environment.
We are delighted to have achieved our goals this year and have gone beyond what we had hoped. We look forward to handing over the torch to the next team next term. If you are interested in becoming an Earth Alliance Leader, or part of our student group. please come and see us.
Joelyn and Fay