“Wellingtons, waterproof suits and walking boots are as much part of what pupils need for learning as paper and pencils are.”

Millfield Primary School, Ofsted Report 2019

Welcome to the 'Greens' Eco Blog

Unfortunately, we can't have an Eco Team meeting after school at the moment, but the children in all year groups are still looking after our school environment and thinking about the future. Follow our blog to find out what's being going on...

It's National Hedgerow Week

Have a look at The Tree Council's resources for something different to do. Click here to see the free resources.

Looking forward to warmer times... (04.12.20)

We planted spring and summer flowering seeds this afternoon. The greenhouse is getting very full now so we should have lots of lovely colour in the spring.

Spring Bulbs for the CRT (19.11.20)

The Canal and River Trust have very kindly invited us to take part in two projects this autumn. The first is planting lots of spring bulbs that will be transplanted next spring to planters along the canals in the West Midlands. This is us planting the daffodils and crocus and storing them in our greenhouse until the time is right after Christmas.

Evergreen Planters (04.11.20)

Year 5 and 6 children planted up the planters that you can see either side of the doors to the school's reception area. Hopefully, we have chosen varieties that will continue to grow healthily all year round as long as they are watered regularly.

Feathered Visitors (October 2020)

The children in Year 1 made sure that our feathered friends were happy during the holidays. They made Honey Loop Necklace bird feeders that they could hook onto the tree branches. It's really important to keep putting bird food out during the winter as there's not as much food around for the birds to get for themselves - they just need a little bit of help!

PYO @ Millfield (October 2020)

Just wait until next summer...Reception children will be asking for lots of cream! The cream will be to go with the strawberries that they will be able to pick. There will be lots and lots as they have been really busy filling the allotments with strawberry plants.

Clearing Canal Bank (September 2020)

Year 6 helped to clear our canal bank and keep the planters weed free. The planters are filled with strawberry plants so the young plants were taken from the mother plants so that they could be planted in other areas around school. Next year, we should have a bumper crop of strawberries.

Whilst down on the canal bank, eagle-eyed Y6s spotted the blackberry bushes that line the school field and were soon busily picking the crop.

Harvesting and Cooking (September 2020)

Year 6 harvested the potatoes that were growing and cooked potato, leek and onion soup to share with the residents at Knaves Court in Brownhills.

Recycle Batteries July 2019

We have entered a competition to collect the most used batteries. We're awaiting the verdict.

Slabbed for Safety June 2019

Look at our new-look canal bank. It looks much better now. Can't wait to use it in September.

We've Adopted Part of the Canal

Let us know if you have any ideas for our section of the Essington and Wyrley Canal.

Planting potatoes

Here we go....the first of the potatoes are in the ground. How big will they grow this year?

Plastic Pollution

This has to stop. Plastic is getting into our seas and oceans and killing our marine life.

Wilderness planting

We have been working in the rain at today's meeting. Wildflower seeds are planted so that we can transplant them into our wildflower meadow later on in the year. Happy growing!

Litter Picking

We have been scouting around for litter in our school grounds. The litter gets blown across the school grounds and looks horrible so we have collected a bag full of litter each.

Split pin characters

Even when the weather is against us, we like to have animals at the centre of our thoughts. These split pin animals from the RSPB are excellent.

Preparing for the half term break

This week the Eco Team members made sure the bird feeders were full so that our feathered visitors didn't go hungry over the half term holiday week. We also spotted the first crocus on the school field which is beautiful - it almost looks as though it is gleaming. Some of the club's members were looking out for the hedgehogs and got busy building a home at the base of one of the oak trees on our field - that is - until the temptation of making shadows in the late afternoon sun got the better of them!

Bird feeders for our feathered friends 25.01.19

Eco team made treats for the birds by threading strings of Cheerios together and hanging them in the bushes around the playground.

The Big School Birdwatch 11.01.19

We braved the cold on Friday and sat in the bird hide waiting to count the different birds that we could see.

It's National Wildflower Meadow Day! 07.07.18

The first Saturday in July is National Wildflower Day and ours is spectacular once again. The habitat it gives to hundreds of creatures is amazing and it looks stunning too! 

What a shame! 25.06.18

We met with a member of the Canal and River Trust to clear up along the canal and we were in for a real shock at how much rubbish finds its way into our canal. The morning session saw us using the litter pickers to fill 10 bin bags of rubbish that we had collected from just the towpath. We then used the grapple hooks to fish out items that had been thrown into the canal. Just take a look at some of the things that we found in the canal...and when you're just walking along the towpath you can't see any of these items.

During the afternoon we had a go at the third step of looking after the canal towpath...clearing the overgrown weeds. Most of the towpath is hidden by encroaching weeds. The photos show how hard the Y5s and Y6s worked to help clear a part of their canal towpath. Well done, guys!

Bird watching from the Canal 12.06.18

Eco Team absolutely love the birds that visit the school grounds and this week they decided to see what they could spot from the new bird watching area of the barge. The team decided they would like to see the canal bank area developed to house a feeding station and nesting boxes. 

Sunday Greens

Cabbage from our own school gardens makes for a scrumptious Sunday lunch and, of course, it’s organic!

Blooming Marvellous!

It’s late spring again and the grounds are coming to life. The wildflower meadow is full of the gorgeous ox-eye daisy and the purple flowering sage is, once again, the favourite home of the bees. The glorious poppies get better every year and the willow den just keeps on growing. Take a look at the photos that we took on our walk around our wild area.

A Blazing Wildflower Meadow!

Eco Team have speeded the area where we had the campfire at the Christmas Fair. We are hoping the soil here is very fertile and that lots of beautiful wildflowers will grow.

Spring has Sprung

Eco Team are really happy with the beautiful spring flowers that they planted earlier this year. The blue muscari looks stunning against the yellow daffodils and when the vibrant red tulips appear the planters in the quad will be amazing. We’re pleased we left the veg growing in between the colourful flowers as they add lots of luscious green foliage to the beds. Look at the photos we think you'll agree.

The Big Schools’ Birdwatch

The Members of the Eco-Team carried out the 2018 survey after school today. It was bitterly cold standing in the bird hide for an hour so they thoroughly deserved the hot chocolate and biscuits. We counted 19 birds during the hour; our favourites were the long-tailed tits.

Welcome back to Eco Club

First meeting back after the Christmas holidays and the Eco Team needed to check and weed the winter vegetables that are growing in our quad. The vegetables are doing really well as it's sheltered from the weather and there doesn't seem to be as many slugs here!

We also planted bulbs in the hope of a pretty spring display. Keep your fingers crossed. The photos show you how bitterly cold it was after school but we persevered until all of the bulbs were in.

Honey-glazed beetroot. Yum!

The beetroot that we harvested earlier this term was delicious. It was roasted and glazed with honey. We just need to plant another crop now.

Harvest Time

Our first job of the year is to harvest the produce that has been growing over the summer months so that the allotments can be weeded and prepared for the planting of the winter vegetables.

From our photos you can see that the onions, lettuce, beetroot and courgettes have grown really well - we're really pleased!

Eco Team 2016-2017

Have a look at Eco Team's history...

Pond Performance

We've been keeping a close eye on the creatures in the pond and have noticed that the tadpoles are beginning to change into frogs. This week in Eco-Club we built the frogs and newts a platform so that they can sit out of the water.

Frogs and newts belong to a group of animals called amphibians which means 'two-lives'. They begin their lives in the water as eggs and then tadpoles and efts (a young newt);  when they are fully developed they live on land. We thought we would build a platform so that the frogs and newts can get out of the water at this stage of their lives. 

Frogs and newts are cold-blooded which means that their bodies are the same temperature as the air or water around them.  When they are cold they will lie in the sun to warm up and when they get too warm they will go into the water to cool their bodies off. This is another good reason for us to build a platform in the pond. We hope they enjoy it!

Hard Work Weeding

The fruit and vegetable plug plants from Rocket Schools are growing really well due to the excellent weather conditions we have had recently. We have to spend lots of our Eco-time weeding the beds so that the plants can grow healthily.

Insect Heaven

The wildflower meadow is looking beautiful at the moment. It is attracting lots of different insects. We saw lots of damselflies hovering amongst the  grasses and flowers.

The poppies are adding lots of colour to the allotments. Some of them are like works-of-art.

Thursday 18th May

We celebrated Outdoor Classroom Day. The whole school spent the day outdoors doing many different activities. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day.

Bug Manor

Welcome to the newly refurbished Bug Manor. Bookings now being taken! Well done, Eco Team. You really worked hard to get this done.

Thank you, Rocket Schools!

The Rocket Schools vegetable pack has arrived and we have had great fun planting all of the different varieties of vegetables. We can't wait to watch them grow.

Is it a frog or is it a toad?

We decided it was a toad because of its lumpy, bumpy skin! We used the Discover Wildlife  website to help us decide. Click on the photo to visit the site and see if we were right.

Meadow Mania!

As promised, here's another photo of the meadow as we enter May. Can't wait to see it at the end of July!

Level Four!!!!

We are really excited about our prize for the Level Four RHS School Gardening Award...It's a Constant Garden from Rocket Gardens. Have a look at what we will be receiving later in the term by clicking on the Rocket Garden's Logo. It will mean we will have lots more to grow and eat so we'll be asking Mrs. Anderson for her help again soon!

Forget-Me-Nots Forever

The Forget-Me-Nots are here! They are the most delicately, pretty blue flower that really does mean that Spring has sprung! Let's hope we don't get any more snow! 

Brilliant Blossom

After the lovely weather over the Easter break, the fruit trees have blossomed. It has really brought the school field to life. We should have apples, plums and pears this year.

Yes!!! We have Level Three

The RHS School Gardening scheme have awarded Millfield's Eco Team with its third certificate for their hard work growing edible produce. We received a fabulous box full of seeds that we will be planting to make our school environment even better than it already is. Thank you, RHS!

Teasing Teasel

Today we planted some young Teasel plants in our wildflower meadow as we know they are brilliant for attracting a whole team of different creatures. Ants, hoverflies, ladybirds, bumblebees and butterflies adore the thistle-like plants so they should make a great addition to our meadow. The teasel is a self-sowing plant so we're hoping that in a few years we will have a healthy number of them in our meadow. Click on the Gardeners' World logo to find out more about the teasel plant.

Level Two is reached

Millfield's Eco Team would like to announce they have been awarded their second RHS School Gardening certificate. We are really pleased with our bird feeding station and it helped us to win the Level Two Award. As a prize we received a gardening handbook full of lovely ideas and projects that we can work on.

Cute Cowslips!

As the weather warms up our meadow begins to bloom. The cowslips and red campion are some of the first wildflowers to appear. Don't they look pretty?

Congratulations Eco Team!

We have been awarded our RHS School Gardening Level One. We're really proud. The work that we did on our Bug Hotel has not gone unnoticed as the RHS have sent us this certificate and a wall planner to remind us of all the important jobs that need doing in the garden all year round.

Here comes Spring

The daffodils have appeared in the meadow. We know it won't be long before the wildflower meadow blooms.

Thank you Mrs. Anderson!

Look at the delicious rhubarb crumbles that Mrs. Anderson has made with the school rhubarb. They look perfect...especially with the viola garnish.

Eco Team have planted their potatoes so that we can take part in Grow Your Own Potatoes project. For more information about this project, by AHDB Potatoes, click on their logo.

Pond Dipping

Eco Team have replaced the pond identification sheets so that any visitors to the pond know the name of all of the creatures. We have many different species in our pond including water snails, pond skaters and newts.

Rhubarb Crumble

It's only April and the rhubarb is growing really well. It's time to pick it and use it in a dish. "Mrs. Anderson!!"

Free Seeds

Greening Grey Britain is an RHS initiative inviting the nation to help tackle the growing trend of Britain paving over its gardens and green spaces and not growing any plants. By clicking on the RHS logo above you can find out how to join the initiative and apply for your free pack of seeds. Happy planting!

Bug Hotel closed due to refurbishment.

Eco Team are planning to upgrade Millfield's Bug Hotel this term as they decided it wasn't a very desirable place for bugs to stay. Team members would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to any bugs but would like to reassure them that the Bug Hotel will be open again shortly.

Here are the plans for the new Bug Hotel due to be opened in early May. Eco Team members are taking bookings now!

Wow! Look at this...

You'll 'bee' pleased to hear that the Bug Hotel is 'flying' up and it now has six storeys. 'Worm' your way in by booking rooms on the 'web' site for an early Spring getaway. Don't go at 'snail's' pace or be 'sluggish' about booking as there may not 'bee' any vacancies.

Hooray! The pond has a new liner and is full again. All we need now is some frogspawn.

Breaking news:

Frogspawn is now in the pond and newts have also been spotted.

Here is our Eco Code:

• We encourage lots of different animals by making as many habitats as possible
• We try to save energy
• We try to live healthy lives by walking to school and eating healthily
• We save food miles by eating what we grow
• We try to reduce what we use and recycle as much as possible
• We always put litter in the bin