All things Eco at Bentley School

“Nobody is too small to make a difference.”

Greta Thunberg

Our school values Love, Courage, Community are at the heart of everything we do at Bentley, including our Eco Council, termly Eco lessons and Forest School provision. From Year R we teach the children to love our planet and how to protect it. Taking positive action for the planet is encouraged with children litter picking, writing letters and campaigning in school to create a better world. 

Developing School Grounds

Through termly Eco Lessons, linked with the work of our Eco Council, the children learn to respect and care for our natural world. This love for nature is particularly evident in the children’s enthusiasm for developing our school grounds. In 2022 as part of our Eco Schools Award, the children started to develop a nature reserve in our school woods.    Thanks to our after-school Nature Club, we now have a dedicated a corner of our woodland for nature by creating bug homes, a hedgehog hideout, bird feeding station and bird boxes as well as log and leaf piles. Through the nature reserve, the children are learning the importance of respecting nature and really relish the opportunity to visit during lessons for bug hunting and other nature activities.

National Education Nature Park

 

In 2023 we were amongst the first cohort of schools to join the National Education Nature Park.  This free initiative, led by the Natural History Museum and funded by the government, aims to empower young people to protect nature.  Through the development of our school grounds, it is wonderful to know that we are part of something bigger as the combined area of all of the school grounds in the England is equivalent to twice the size of the city of Birmingham!

Pollinator Garden

Our most recent project is our school’s pollinator garden which is the children’s response to the recently declared butterfly emergency. The site is a former school garden which is full of beautiful wildflowers and many wonderful wild visitors. It is our aim to work with nature to create an even larger paradise for wildlife as well as a space of awe and wonder for the children to learn and relax in.  The project began in Spring 2025 when the children were tasked with designing the garden as part of a competition. The 13 winners from Year R to Year 6 are working with Eco Council together with members of the school community and Bentley village residents.  Through their designs, the children have chosen to include fruit trees, wildflower and herb raised beds, a wildlife pond and a bug village. We are very fortunate to have received funding from the South Downs National Park ReNature fund to make the children’s visions a reality.

Eco Council 

Launched in 2019, our Eco Council is evidence of the passion our pupils have for our environment.  Twelve children from Year 1 to Year 6 are elected each year to participate in Eco Council with pupil empowerment at the heart of everything we do. Since 2019, we have won three awards, attended several conferences, done many litter picks, written letters, welcomed our MP, attended school and community events, presented assemblies and even been on the local radio! In 2024 we were especially proud to have been awarded our second Eco Schools Award, this time with a distinction.

 

Young ACAN Partner

Young ACAN is the youth branch of ACAN – Alton Climate Action Network.  Bentley is proud to be part of its schools’ partnership, working together with Alton College and local primary and secondary schools to empower young people to take action for the planet.  As part of this partnership children from Eco Council attend the regular Eco Conferences and participate in competitions and events.  Teachers from the partner schools meet regularly to share ideas and plan events, showing the young people in their schools how collectively we all care about the future of the planet.

Ministry of Eco Education

Bentley signed up to the Ministry of Eco Education as a way to access free resources and planning to deliver lessons about climate change, nature and sustainability. In 2024 we started a journey to become a MofEE pioneer school. The teachers at Bentley are now on a 5-step journey to embed sustainability across the curriculum, using the resources and lessons available on the MofEE website.