Canon Pyon Primary School's Power Rangers

24 July 2012

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The project

Our electricity bills seemed to be a little excessive and it was being noted that many of us were wasting a lot of energy through leaving lights on, doors open in the cold weather, etc.

Delivering the project and linking it to the curriculum

We held an assembly which was presented by the Year 4 children.  They were Power Rangers and had written a letter to all the members of staff telling them what they were going to do. I.e. check to see if they were trying to reduce the amount of energy wasted. 

It was integrated through the use of a superhero theme which the children’s class had running throughout the curriculum. They also wrote letters and thought about persuasive writing.

Getting the pupils involved

I had the year 4 children for a lesson in which they decided how they could encourage staff and children to save energy.  They thought they could be Power Rangers which gave them the power to take control of the project but in a fun way.  They designed pictures of their characters and gave themselves names e.g. ‘Tash the Flash’, which were used in a display in the hall.

They wrote a letter to inform the staff and children that they would be coming around the school, over four weeks, to check that everyone was doing what they could to save energy and reduce our electricity bill.  They would give a prize to the person who they thought had made the most effort.  A letter was given to each member of staff and was signed by each of the Power Rangers. 

They made a chart which they used to monitor each room in the school, ticking or crossing to show whether the rooms came up to their standard. This included turning lights, heating, whiteboards off at break times, not having the windows open with the heating on and making sure doors were shut to keep the heat in.

Funding

As it was fairly simple, there were enough resources at school for this.

Project support

All staff were supportive.

Challenges

Occasionally we had to remind the children to decide who was going to do the monitoring on that day.  They needed to see that to make a project work they had to keep going… 

Making sure that the school maintains a healthy use of electricity is a bit of a challenge. But the power rangers are allowed to do spot checks at any time!!!

Benefits of being an Eco-School

They were able to appreciate how easily we can take the use of energy for granted.  In the assembly it was linked with where electricity comes from to help them understand the effect it can have on our planet. The year 4 children had the experience of taking control but in a diplomatic way and worked well as a team.  

Measuring the impact

The children monitored the rooms over a four week period and recorded what they found.  We looked at the electricity bill at the beginning of the project and at the end.

Using the Pod’s resources

Yes, we took part in the Waste Week campaign.

Educational resources used

We are working with Tillington Court Farm as part of their ‘Growing local is Going local’ campaign.  

Lessons learned

Don’t try to do too much at once. Think about projects that will fit best into your school at the time and concentrate on them.  

Next steps

Yes, we want to have smart meters installed so we can look more closely at our energy consumption.  We are working on building our recycled green house.  We would like to encourage and observe wildlife more in our school environment. We are keeping an eye out for good projects on the Pod that might fit in with the curriculum next year.  We are also looking into Global Perspective further, thinking about fairtrade.

Local Authority support

Yes, we have had some good advice from the Waste and Sustainability Department.

Like the sound of this and want to do something similar?

Why not take part in the Pod's Switch Off Fortnight campaign this November. The first 5,000 schools to register on the campiagn receive a free resources pack, with everything you'll need to run the campaign in your school. By taking part you can cut your energy use (and bills), involve the whole school, monitor your progress and the campaign can help you along your Eco-Schools journey.