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Being an official Eco-School, every year the Eco Committee have to complete an environmental review and then put together an action plan. As a whole school, we work through the Ten Topics throughout the year, but we also have to choose three Eco Topics to focus on in our action plan. This year's topics are Biodiversity, Marine and Global Citizenship. Our Biodiversity plans for Spring include replanting the wooden planters around school, remodelling the Ramp Garden in the KS2 playground, and hopefully planting a small wildflower patch on the grassed area down the front of the school. In the meantime, children regularly go out with Mrs Ryder to feed the birds, and a group of KS2 children recently took part in RSPB's Big Schools' Bird Watch. They were very pleased to see quite a few birds in the school grounds this year, including a tiny wren! For the Marine Topic we have started our second ocean themed art work to be made from plastic bottle tops. This has been set up in the library and Mr Arrandale has been getting the sea-turtle design ready so that every child will have an opportunity to take part in glueing on the bottle tops. The project for Global Citizenship is to recycle and paint glass jars to create tealight candle lanterns which will be sold to raise awareness and funds for charity. During Warrior Wednesdays and Crafting Thursdays in the Eco Club, groups of children are busily getting creative; first they work on their designs and then they start the painting process - quite a few have discovered that painting on round glass jars is not as easy as it looks but they have been very determined to create some beautiful lanterns! ​

This month has seen the Eco Committee having their first meeting of the academic year. They elected a new Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and set up a task group to go through the annual Environmental Review and agree on this year's Action Plan. As an Eco-School we have Ten Topics to work through and this year have decided to continue with 'Biodiversity' and 'Marine', which we started last year, and, at our new Chairperson's request, 'Global Citizenship'. We have received our Green Flag for last year, and have already put in our application for this year. As you can imagine, there is a lot going on in the Eco Room every day! On Mondays we have Mindful Monday when the children can sit listening to music whilst colouring in mandala patterns. Tuesday and Thursday are our crafting days. We make friendship bracelets, bookmarks and 'wish sticks', using recycled or natural materials. Warrior Wednesdays are for researching and campaigning on environmental issues, and Fridays are set aside for the older members of the Eco Committee to do their Energy Monitoring and recycling jobs. Mrs Ryder's afternoon groups will soon be up and running again and the children will turn their attention to replanting the wooden planters in the playgrounds. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us! 🙂🌞 Please don't forget to send in your used batteries, home printer ink cartridges, and pens and felt-tips for school to send off for recycling so that we can earn points for money to be donated to charities of our choice, as well as reducing the waste that is incinerated or sent to landfill. Sudell's Eco Warriors are definitely making a difference! ♻️ ​

Once again Sudell's Eco Warriors have had a very busy year, which culminated in the excellent achievement of being awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag. Members of the Eco Committee also stepped out of their comfort zone and performed in a play which told the story of the 'Land of Litternot' and the importance of protecting wildlife and the environment. The play was filmed by Mr Hilton from DACA and the finished product was shown at our Celebration Awards assemblies on Monday. See the video for yourself below. It is well worth a watch, not least because the children involved worked so hard rehearsing it, and the Jester had all the school laughing with his wonderfully deadpan performance! In the play there is a mention of the carrots and pumpkins planted in the Secret Garden. We're not sure how successful this crop is going to be, but will let you know in September! In the meantime, the tyre planters in the Peace Garden have been planted up with ornamental grass, flowers and herbs to create a sensory area for children, staff and wildlife to enjoy next year.

The Eco Committee proudly showing off the Eco-Schools Green Flag which was awarded on 3rd May 2022. Well done to all Sudell's fantastic Eco Warriors who helped us achieve this!

Despite all the Covid19 rules, regulations and working in bubbles, the Eco Club kept open for business and members of the Eco Committee and the Eco Club carried on putting environmental concerns at the front of their agenda. We gained our Eco-Schools Silver Award and are now very close to getting our first Green Flag! In the last two years we have set up a Compost Caddy Crew - each day children from Yr6 and YrS take turns to collect the caddies filled with any uneaten raw fruit and vegetables from breaktime and lunch, and empty them into the compost bay in the Secret Garden. Our goal is to be able to make our own compost one day. In the meantime it is a good feeling knowing that some of our food waste is not going straight into the bin. We also now do regular litter picks in our local area - the streets closest to school, and the land around the nearby community centre. Different children from YrS and Yr4 take turns to be part of the Litter Picking Posse every term. The children take this very seriously and are often quite shocked by the amount of rubbish that has been thrown onto the ground, especially when they notice rubbish bins nearby. Our litter picking actions came to the attention of Sally Booth, the Environmental Educational Officer for Blackburn with Darwen, which led us to being photographed and featured in the Shuttle, the council's news magazine. As an Eco School we complete an Environmental Review each year and then a task group of members of the Eco Committee and Eco Club put together an Action Plan, working as a team to decide on which Eco Topics to work on for the year. The topics the children chose for last year were School Grounds, Energy and Waste; whilst for this year we are continuing with Energy as well as adding Healthy Living and Litter. We have all worked very hard to improve the outside spaces at Sudell and with the help of Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Nature Friendly School project, a grant from the Aldridge Trust, and donations of trees from the Woodland Trust, we now have two wonderful gardens and a native hedgerow. The Peace Garden and the Secret Garden can be used as outdoor classrooms as well as places to grow plants and vegetables or just relax and play, and the hedgerow when established will provide food and habitat for insects and birds and reduce traffic pollution. We are also a registered public drop-off location for TerraCycle's 'Writing Instruments Recycling Programme' so next time you clear out a drawer or cupboard and find dried up used pens, felt tips and correction fluid, bring them into school and we will send them off to be recycled for you! Every Friday lunchtime the Eco Room is a hive of activity as our Eco Committee members collect and sort empty glue sticks and all the used pens, felt­tips, drywipe pens and highlighters; take clipboards around the school to check lights and computers are being switched off when classrooms are empty, and make sure the paper recycling bins are being used correctly. They understand and value the message in our school Eco Motto: We can make a difference!

Sudell's Eco Club has come a long way since setting up our very first Eco Committee meeting back in the Autumn of 2017! Our school is a registered Eco School, working towards its Silver certificate, and in November 2019 we became a Wildlife Trust 'Nature Friendly School' - one of only 17 in the whole North West! - which is why we have been able to develop our Secret Garden into a working garden and outdoor classroom. The Eco Committee is comprised of at least two children from each class from Yr1-Yr6, and, as well as having meetings every half term, these children organise task groups to complete an annual environmental review and then decide on an action plan. These are displayed on the Eco Board in the hall - along with the minutes of our meetings, photographs, and poems written by members of the Eco Club. The Eco Club takes place at lunchtime every Monday to Thursday in the Eco Room where the children take part in lots of different activities and discussions: arts and crafts using natural or recycled materials; growing and watering plants; watching videos about how best to tackle plastic pollution, and discussing ideas to help improve the environment both locally and globally. Children don't have to be on the Eco Committee to be in the Eco Club. Sudell is also registered with the RSPB and the Woodland Trust's Green Tree Schools Award programme - a group of Yr5 Eco Warriors took part in the Big Schools' Birdwatch in February and we have plans to plant 30 hedgerow saplings to encourage more birds into the school grounds.

As part of Sudell's environmental action plan to save energy and improve recycling, there is an ordinary waste bin and a recycling box or bin in each classroom, the staffroom and the school office. Near each recycling bin is a photograph showing the types of items that can be recycled and so should go into the recycling bin and not the waste bin. Members of the Eco Committee and Eco Club check that this is done properly in each class and we have Energy Monitors who go round school on a Friday lunchtime to do an overall check of both types of bin and also whether lights and computers are being turned off when classrooms are not being used. Sudell is also the local drop off point for the Terracycle' Writing Implements RecyclingProgramme', so in the office and in every classroom we have Green Eco Boxes which all our used pens, felt tips, dry wipe pens, markers and highlighters get put into. They are monitored, collected and sorted every Friday by our Waste Warriors - please bring in any used pens and felt tips from home, too! Empty glue sticks are also collected in these boxes and are recycled instead of going to landfill. In the Peace Garden there is a water butt to collect rainwater and in the Secret Garden we have a compost bin. Into the compost bin we put gardening waste, raw fruit and vegetable waste from the kitchen, plus any fruit the children have at break time.

If you have any waterproof kagoules, jackets, trousers, gloves and wellies stashed away in a cupboard because they no longer fit your children we will be very happy to give them a good home here at Sudell! All waterproof items donated will be gratefully received and put to good use when our green fingered Eco Warriors want to work in the gardens on a rainy day.

Year 5 rounded off their year of Brass lessons with a concert for friends and family. They have progressed brilliantly since beginning to learn to play the cornet in January.

Pupils, parents and teachers at Sudell Primary School in Darwen have been celebrating beating the national SATs results today, with a particularly strong performance in maths. The results for reading, maths, GPS and writing have been published by the Department for Education today. Nationally results have remained fairly consistent with last year, with the combined average percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard across reading, writing and maths (known as the school’s Combined Score) rising by one percentage point to 65%. Sudell easily surpassed this with a score of over 72%. In maths against a national average of 79% Sudell pupils scored a massive 94%. Pupils take national curriculum assessments in year 6 at the end of primary school Key Stage 2, when most will have reached the age of 11. SATs tests are taken in reading; maths; and grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS); and there is a statutory teacher assessment in writing and science. Sudell Principal Mrs Lenny Lewis said: “These are great results and I’m delighted they have reflected the hard work of our pupils, the dedication of our teachers and the support of our parents. We have improved in each subject this year and the performance in maths, more than 15% above the national average, is wonderful.” “The results are an important measure, but school life is about more than tests. We recognise that children learn most effectively when they are in a safe and happy environment and learning is engaging and fun. As a school we have ensured that the children have been nurtured throughout and experienced a wide variety of curriculum opportunities, including Science Days, educational visits and entrepreneurial activities such as running their own businesses. “It is these achievements that underpin our pupils’ learning and success in their SATs. Our school continues to grow as we welcome new pupils and parents from across Darwen.” Sudell parent Mrs Lubna Aslam said: “We are so proud of our son and our grateful to all the staff for their support.” Jane Fletcher, Chief Executive of Aldridge Education, said: “These results show just how Sudell continues to improve as a school under Mrs Lewis’ leadership. Our Year 6s will move on in September well equipped to enjoy and succeed in secondary school, and beyond.”

Year 6 had an amazing visit to the Titanic museum in Liverpool.