Eco Week

Another successful Eco Week has helped to galvanise the whole school community to take action and play their part in tackling the climate crisis.

The Eco Team launched their annual Eco Week with an inspiring assembly outlining how they are linking activities to some of the United Nation’s global sustainability goals. They also announced a new collaboration with One Carbon World, to help us measure, reduce and offset our carbon emissions – read more here.

Over the course of the week, Junior School pupils used scrap paper to make imaginative papier-mâché creations and learned about tree species on woodland walks, while Year 6 spent a day outdoors exploring Hampstead Heath, developing their map-reading and orienteering skills.

Senior School pupils enjoyed talks on fast fashion with Sophie Benson, bumblebee ecology with Professor Dave Goulson, and climate justice with activist Mikaela Loach, as well as film-screenings about climate change and a careers in sustainability session with alumnae Helena Nathan-King (Senior Consultant at EcoAct), Zoe Cokeliss Barsley (Director of Sustainability at Oxford University Press) and Alicia Kaplan (Graduate Environmental Consultant).

At a special debating event, girls argued whether environmental responsibility lies with the individual or the government, while the latest House Spelling Bee focused on words connected to sustainability. Lunchtime events included low food miles meals, workshops on upcycling plastic waste, giveaways of sustainable period products and a low waste cooking challenge in partnership with FEAST With Us.

The week ended with a non-uniform day to raise funds for the Woodland Trust, the charity Mrs Bingham is supporting with her latest eco-challenge to run 1000 miles in a year; Senior School pupils were encouraged to don nature-inspired outfits or to come dressed as Sir David Attenborough – a fitting tribute to another action-packed Eco Week.

South Hampstead was named the Independent School of the Year for Environmental Achievement in 2020.