The way to a more sustainable planet depends on how we educate the next generation. We want children to grow up with an understanding of how to look after the planet, and in turn go on and influence others with their behaviour. The earlier we can teach these principles, the better.

For this reason, your children’s awareness of the planet and the environment should be promoted through their daily activities, the resources that they use, and the interactions we all have with them.

Recycling

Holy Angels recycles paper, cardboard, plastic, cans, and tins or we reuse them for arts and crafts. 

Reusing and repurposing

We don’t throw away materials that could be suitable for play, so we collect cardboard, paper, plastic to use in arts and crafts activities.

Using less paper

Most, if not all, of our parents and carers’ communications and invoicing are made electronically by email, so we print as little as possible.

Our interactive app FAMLY allows us to share a child’s pictures and updates with their parents without the need for printing.

Online banking and the use of finance software is helping us move towards becoming a paperless business.

All our marketing is done through social media.

‍Making use of the outdoors

We are lucky enough to have great outdoor space, we have a natural messy kitchen area and mud kitchens outside and we are developing a space so the children will be able to grow flowers, fruit and veggies in our preschool allotment with the aim to have a greener outdoors area, we invest in plants and plant trees where possible.

We have regular Forest School sessions for the children in a specially developed area of our outdoor space and we have plans to develop an allotment and our playground to bring more nature and greenery.

What we buy

Where we can, we buy in bulk to reduce packaging waste (and save money!). We collect natural materials for play, like feathers, conkers, pine cones, or sticks.

When we buy new things, we try to make sustainable equipment purchases – wooden toys and tables, rather than bad-quality plastic which we would have to replace in a few years.

We are part of a food share scheme in Torbay where we are able to collect food from supermarkets, that is in date but surplus to their requirements, this is then used to stock our own food bank for those families in most need.

Water conservation

With water being such a valuable resource, teaching children to use it wisely is vital. At Holy Angels, we make sure children do not waste water by playing with the toilets flush or taps etc. ‍

As part of a new project we will be collecting rainwater in water butts so we can water plants and our vegetables sustainably.

Energy saving

We turn down or switch off our heating system when not needed and we are looking at new ways we can reduce the energy that is used within our setting to avoid wasting energy and saving on electricity.  We work in partnership with Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School to become more energy efficient.

Starting Young

Encouraging a sustainable mindset starts in early years, that is why it is so powerful to discuss with the children sustainable practices that will carry through to when children head to primary school and onwards.

Not only this, children will take their habits and understanding back home, getting their families on board. That is why our role in the early years is so important.

By choosing more sustainable practices, children will build their knowledge and values while developing an appreciation of the environment and the way it affects their world. In turn, this is setting the foundations for an environmentally responsible adulthood and a planet that starts to look a lot more secure.