Wrexham primary school pupils help highlight importance of recycling

Pupils at a local primary school are taking it upon themselves to show highlight to others the importance of recycling.

The work being carried out by the Eco Committee at Victoria Community Primary School comes off the back of a visit to the Bryn Lane Recycling Centre in October 2018.

A viewing window allows pupils to see how recyclable materials are bulked-up, ready to be taken away and recycled into new products.

The pupils were so impressed by what they learnt at the recycling workshop that they wanted to tell the rest of their school about it.

After the workshop the school’s Eco Committee began preparing a presentation to show the whole school at a special assembly that took place at the end of January.

Debbie Eccles, Headteacher at Victoria CP School told us: “I just want to say how proud I am of the children for engaging in this issue and the genuine commitment they are showing to reducing plastic – and other waste – in school.

“It’s a great example of pupil-voice having meaningful, and hopefully sustainable, impact. Thank you to Catherine for inspiring the children.”

As part of the assembly several pupils talked about their visit in front of a PowerPoint presentation that was projected onto a big screen behind them.

They covered topics such as the different types of bins, what can be recycled, what happens to our recycling, and why it’s important not to contaminate recycling.

Catherine Golightly, Waste Strategy Officer for Wrexham Council who runs the sessions that give the pupils an interactive recycling experience, said: “I love running the workshops at the Education Room and was delighted when the Eco Committee invited me to their assembly.

“It makes the workshops worthwhile, when you can see that the information is really being taken on board. The fact they want to educate their whole school is wonderful.

“The pupils should be very proud of what they presented.”

Cllr. David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, added: “This is a great story about a group of young people using good initiative to educate others about recycling.

“If they can inspire others – and not just other youngsters, older generations too – it would be great for Wrexham.

“We have fantastic learning facilities in the Education Room at our Bryn Lane Recycling Centre, and this shows that Catherine’s sessions are having an impact.”