Laudato Si’ is an encyclical written by the late Pope Francis. It was published on the 18 June 2015. Encyclicals are open letters written by the Pope.

Laudato Si’ discusses the damage being inflicted on the Earth by humans and calls on ‘every person living on this planet’ to make urgent changes to our lifestyles and how we consume energy in order to protect the planet.

It deals with many environmental issues including:

• pollution
• climate change
• water
• loss of biodiversity
• decline in the quality of human life.

The children at St. Peter’s are encouraged to actively care for and protect the planet, embracing their role as stewards of God’s wonderful world to promote the common good for all. Through this, we strive to be an eco-friendly school that nurtures thoughtful, responsible pupils who reflect on their impact and are prepared to live in harmony with the environment.

At St. Peter's, the summer term, curriculum units are specifically dedicated to Eco and link widely to Pope Francis’ vision in Laudato Si’.

How are Eco Reps chosen?

Our Eco Reps are selected for their exceptional commitment and passion for making a difference when looking after God’s World. Eco Reps apply to be on the team and are voted for by their class peers. They demonstrate:

• Respect for all living creatures.
• Reflectiveness about how to create change.
• A passion for the environment and want to support change.
• Flexibility to solve problems.
• Leadership skills in leading whole school initiatives and projects.

Eco Reps will:

• Be role models for our school values when looking after the school environment and remind others of the Eco Code when necessary.
• Actively keep themselves up to date on environmental issues and solutions in and outside of St Peter’s.
• Bring ideas about how the school can change or improve in relation to environmental sustainability to meetings and work collaboratively to put proposals forward to the Eco Committee.
• Apply a range of thinking tools to support the process.
• Get involved in practical tasks and activities to turn plans into actions.
• Work on specific projects, including new incentives to maintain and promote the Green Flag Award.  
• Update the school community with environmental issues and activities e.g. in collective worship, parent forums, newsletters and meetings with governors.

Why do we have an Eco team?

• To ensure our school is eco-friendly and prepares all our pupils to live with reflection of the environment.
• To discuss and raise issues related to the environment.
• To make sure each class has a platform to voice their opinions.
• To work on project specific activities linked to our Green Flag status.

What happens in the meetings?

We begin each year by completing an environmental review to find out what has been successful at St. Peter’s and what needs to be improved. We then use this to create an action plan for the upcoming year. Throughout the year, each Eco Rep meets with their class to discuss ideas about changes and improvements to the school. The issues are then raised in meetings and Eco Reps discuss how to move forward with these ideas.

Each class has a committed Eco Rep. The role of the Eco rep is to meet weekly with the rest of the Eco committee and discuss anything that they feel we should be doing as a school to change and improve our environment. They also have the responsibility of going back to their classes and updating them with ideas discussed within the meetings. This is a good opportunity to ensure all classes can hear any important information.

To keep our Green Flag status we focus on 5 different topics all related to looking after the world.

Our 5 focus topics are: Marine, school grounds, Global Citizenship, Energy and Waste.

Our ongoing topics include Biodiversity, Healthy Living, Water, Transport and Litter.

Our Eco Codes