Eco award for Chichester nursery

The nursery at St. Richard’s Hospital, Spitalfield Lane, is now ‘Bronze’ Eco-School accredited by Keeping Britain Tidy, which means it has nominated an Eco-Committee of children, completed a child-led evaluation of the nursery, and created a hands-on action plan to make the nursery a greener place.

The youngsters have been filing out on nature walks, building homes for hedgehogs and feeding stations for butterflies, and learning about practical ways to save electricity by turning off light switches when not in use. The group has also been introducing taps with automatic sensors to help prevent water wastage from faucets being left on accidentally.

The Co-operative Childcare is now working towards all of its nurseries being Green Flag holders – the most prestigious certification. This is well underway, as more than a quarter of nurseries across the network have already achieved ‘silver’ accreditation.

Kim Orton, nursery manager at The Co-operative Childcare in Chichester, said: “We work hard to create the best nursery environment possible for the children and the Eco-School accreditation not only helps us make sure we do so in the most environmentally friendly way possible, it also provides brilliant opportunities for children to explore the world around them.

“One little boy even went home from nursery and asked his mum at the supermarket tills why she was using plastic carrier bags, because they are bad for the whales and dolphins! Stories like this sum up how important and rewarding it is to teach the next generation as much as we can about the world they live in.”