The pupils of Raasay Primary School are delighted to have been awarded their fourth Eco-Schools Green Flag Award last week. The Education and Learning team at Keep Scotland Beautiful praised the school for their whole school approach with all pupils and staff being involved. Community engagement, partnership and support were applauded and the team were also impressed that the school managed to cover all 10 topics throughout the last three years with so many of these activities now embedded in daily school life. Island support for the school’s eco work was recognised “It’s great to hear that you have so much support from local residents, businesses as well as learning from a wide range of outside agencies”. The school collaborated with the Carbon Neutral Islands Co-ordinator on ‘Beach Forensics’ during a three day Carbon Neutral Islands Project last session. The partnership with the Raasay Walled Garden was highlighted “Your partnership with the Walled Garden is wonderful and it’s so good to read that you are getting deliveries of fresh and tasty fruit and veg”. The school receives a veg box every week which is used for school meals. Last year the school also undertook a project with an eco-yacht which sailed to Raasay from Brittany – this led to twinning between the schools, sharing culture and language.

The school was celebrated for its ‘excellent focus on Global Citizenship through the fundraising taking place for a diverse range of charities’. Head Teacher Wilma Duncan said “The school community is delighted to have received our fourth Green Flag. It recognises all the activities and developments undertaken within our Action Plan over the last three years. It is through the support of parents, local individuals and organisations, like the Walled Garden, that we are able to embed some of these in our daily school life’. We are already looking into getting started with our Eco aims for the next two years and look forward to developing our work around Climate Action in particular, with further workshops planned with CNI while continuing long established projects such as our composting scheme, Enterprise and Charity work and, of course, continuing to enjoy our weekly veg box from the Walled Garden – reducing our carbon footprint and food miles. We also hope to continue to develop our European Schools connection with our twin school in Brittany’. This year the pupils are delighted to be receiving a wormery from the Walled Garden which will help to compost food waste and produce liquid plant food for the garden. Pictured are pupils and Head Teacher with representatives from the Walled Garden, Parent Council and Raasay Primary School Garden volunteers.