Pupils from the EcoCouncil Committee at Ysgol Pontsenni have received a handwritten letter from the legendary broadcaster and biologist, Sir David Attenborough.
The Eco Commitee wrote a letter to the broadcaster and created a card to celebrate his 98th birthday earlier this month. The children wrote about the various work the members of the EcoCouncil have done over the year, including creating an Eco Code for the school, adopting wild animals and planting various flowers to help encourage wildlife and nature in the area.
The children were all excited and thrilled to receive the letter, which reads: “Thank you for your letter and congratulations on all you are doing to help the natural world. Best wishes to you all, David Attenborough”
The Eco Committee members said: “We were all so excited opening the letter and felt proud to receive a response from the naturalist.”
Ysgol Pontsenni was awarded the Green Flag in 2023 to acknowledge and celebrate the environmental projects and the encouragement of nature that the young people in the school achieve.
The Green Flag Award is an internationally recognised achievement for schools committed to learning for sustainability and environmental excellence.
The Eco Committee now plans to make the school ground more wildlife-friendly by undertaking the scheme ‘1 Metre Matters’. This means changing one metre sqaure areas into habitat for wildlife which includes planting flowers, building bug hotels and creating log piles to encourage nature.
The Eco Committee have encouraged the School community to create one metre square of wildlife space in their own gardens. The Eco Committee and the School would encourage everyone to take part in 1 Metre Matters to help nature and the environment.
They have also encouraged the school to take part in the ‘No Mow May’ scheme at home. This is important for wildflowers to grow, providing vital food for bees and many other insects as well as allowing flowers to bloom in the garden. Even allowing a small patch of the lawn will help wildlife.
All these efforts are going towards the second Green Flag Award for 2025.