Waste Education for Primary Schools

Our Waste Education Officers can visit your school to deliver FREE waste education workshops to inform and inspire your students.

If you are keen to be green click on the following links to find out more about our workshops and assemblies.

Introduction to waste issues
Compost
Reducing
Reusing
Recycling
Energy
Eco-footprints
Seasonal waste education
Global waste education

Found a workshop or assembly you would like us to deliver?

Contact us on 01963 351350 or rf.swap@carymoor.org.uk

Assembly: Talking rubbish? (20 minutes)
Focusing on what happens to waste in Somerset, students find out why it is important to reduce, reuse and recycle and what they can do to make a difference.

Download risk assessment

Workshop: Talking rubbish? (1 hour)
A great way to start the topic. We introduce waste issues and the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) through class discussion and hands-on activities including rubbish relay and the ‘What’s it made of?’ game.

Download Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Role play and debate (1.5 hours)
A chance for your class to get into character! Students must assume a role within a community that may be affected by a controversial environmental issue. The class will then debate this real life issue at an important local planning meeting.

Download Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Film day (1 day)
Why not let your students introduce your school to waste issues as part of an exciting film making workshop. We will work with a small group of students (5 to 6 is ideal) to make an environmental film. The students will have the opportunity to act, direct and edit their own film. We will bring all equipment needed to help them transform their ideas into a finished DVD.

Download risk assessment

Lights! Camera! Waste action!

To watch award winning Film Day videos click here

Assembly: Crazy compost! (20 minutes)
For Key Stage 1 students Wigglebert the worm will be on hand to show how to make compost in this fun and interactive assembly. For Key Stage 2 students a more in-depth look will be provided about compost and why and how we make it, especially in schools, as a great way to recycle fruit waste and scrap paper.

Workshop: Crazy compost! (1 - 1.5 hours)
Students discover how to make and use compost through discussion, games and making grass-heads (KS1) or mini greenhouses (KS2).

Download the Lesson plans KS1, KS2/ risk assessment

Workshop: The waste-free lunch game (1 hour)
A fun way for students to learn how to minimize their lunch waste by exploring a range of reduce, reuse and recycle options.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Lunchtime waste audit
We can help the whole school sort and weigh their lunchtime waste to investigate how much waste is being produced at lunchtime and highlight measures to reduce it.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Magical masks! (1 - 1.5 hours)
After listening to the story of Fox and his woodland friends in ‘Another Fine Mess’ students can make animal masks of the story’s characters. The masks are made from waste materials brought in by the students and the SWAP team.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Fantastic plastic? (1.5 - 2 hours)
Students explore the implications of plastic on our environment and consider ways to reduce their plastic waste. Focusing on reusing, students can design and make a fun windmill or bird feeder from empty plastic bottles.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Paper making (1.5 - 2 hours)
Students find out how paper is recycled in this fun hands-on workshop by making their own recycled paper and getting creative with scrap paper and card.

Assembly: Switch on! (20 minutes)
How do we use energy? Where does it come from and why do we need to save it? The answers to these questions and more will be covered in this informative assembly most suitable for Key Stage 2 students.

Workshop: Switch on! (1 - 1.5 hours)
Students are encouraged to find out how we use energy in our daily lives and consider where energy comes from. Through practical activities and investigations students can learn about the importance of using less energy and the use of sustainable energy sources.

Download the Lesson plans KS1, KS2/ risk assessment

Eco-footprints
Workshop: Big foot? (1 - 1.5 hours). Through hands on activities students investigate the far reaching impact of an everyday product by exploring its eco-footprint. Students are also encouraged to consider their own eco-footprint and ways to reduce it.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Sustainable Christmas (1 - 1.5 hours)
Students make festive decorations and crafts from rubbish and find out more about simple ways to reduce waste at this time of year.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Workshop: Easter egg-stravaganzer (1 - 1.5 hours)
A seasonal workshop looking at the problem of over packaging. Students investigate Easter egg packaging and develop their own more environmentally friendly solutions.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Assembly: Worldly waste (20 minutes)
An exciting look at how other countries deal with their rubbish. Students are shown a variety of examples from developed and developing countries. Comparisons are then drawn with the UK and how we manage our waste.

Workshop: The possibilities are endless … (1.5 hours)
How does the way we think about rubbish compare with people from other countries? This workshop uses a variety of products made from rubbish from around the world as a starting point for discussion and as the inspiration for students to reuse their rubbish to make a woven animal themed bookmark.

Download the Lesson plan / risk assessment

Found a workshop or assembly you would like us to deliver?

Or why not visit us at the Carymoor Environmental Centre for a Wild Day Out or a tour around the Dimmer Landfill Site?

The SWAP team is based at the Carymoor Environmental Centre near Castle Cary. This unusual site is Somerset's first Eco-Centre , and is built on a capped, recovered landfill site. It is situated next to the working landfill at Dimmer, putting the team in a unique position to explain and promote these themes in schools. Site visits and tours are also available by arrangement; please contact Graham Jennings on 01963 350786.

To book a visit to your school or community group, contact SWAP on 01963 351350, or email rf.swap@carymoor.org.uk

SWAP is funded by the Somerset Waste Partnership and is delivered in partnership with the Carymoor Environmental Trust.