Jen James, our Education Programme Lead, has been supporting Pennar Community School and their Green Team in their challenge to build a waste-free world. And they have won a Keep Wales Tidy Earthshot Prize for their amazing work! Jen says “It has been truly inspiring to work with such engaged pupils across the whole school. They have shared their vision of a waste-free future with other schools in Pembrokeshire and the Future Generations Office. A truly deserved award.” The competition, inspired by The Earthshot Prize, highlights environmental action in schools across Wales.

The waste project was conceived by issues raised in the school’s annual COP (Conference of Pennar) Climate Conference and involved the whole school – staff and pupils. Each class tackled a different waste theme, from plastic pollution to fast fashion, during the spring term. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 focused on food waste and worked with Jen to reduce waste.

The pupils documented their efforts in a film and were presented with the award by BBC presenter Will Millard at a ceremony in Cardiff on Wednesday, June 25. Siân Taylor, the school’s sustainability lead, said: “Sustainability is at the core of all we do at Pennar School, and the environmental work led by the school’s Green Team has been embedded into our constantly evolving curriculum. We are absolutely delighted that their hard work and dedication has been recognised at the Climate Challenge Cymru Awards.”

Pennar pupils are also active users of Energy Sparks which is a brilliant interactive platform for schools to understand, monitor and reduce their schools’ energy consumption.

Congratulations Pennar!