A Welwyn Garden City primary school has just been announced as the winner of the first annual Mitsubishi Electric Eco School Competition.

The national competition, which was created by Mitsubishi Electric under its educational ‘The Learning Curve’ programme, was open to all schools and also Scouts, Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs and any other youth groups who are committed to raising environmental awareness amongst their communities.

The Eco-Team and year 5 from Rowans Primary School successfully addressed the seven challenges set for pupils to secure the top prize of £2,000 worth of environmental resources for their school.

“There were some really worthy entries which we were delighted with because this is the first year we’ve opened this up but Rowans Primary outshone the others and impressed the judges with their overall approach”, explained Jenny Maskrey, who manages the Learning Curve on behalf of the company.

Initiatives such as the use of regular energy monitoring charts and the introduction of recycling bins were complimented with other ideas such as a vegetable garden to get all of the children involved along with a programme to identify waste from areas such as leaky taps. 

“What the judges liked about the winning entry was that it involved more than just a core group, with the whole school, led by Year 5 teacher, Jon Loveridge and head teacher Jo Reed, completely embracing the challenge”, added Maskrey. “They epitomised the idea of the competition by engaging with their community and doing so with passion.”

Mitsubishi Electric designed the school eco competition to encourage children to examine the way they use energy and challenge themselves, their schools and their family and friends to make a difference.

Competitors were asked to examine six key areas: Waste; energy; bio-diversity; travel; water; and heath, with the children then invited to take the ‘Green Invention Challenge’.

The company does plan to launch another competition for the next academic year and further details can be found on the dedicated Learning Curve website, including more information on Mitsubishi Electric’s special educational programme, which has been designed to engage children and fit in with the national curriculum: www.the-learning-curve.org.uk.

Pictured above Jenny Maskrey and Hazel Gaylor (first and second from right) of Mitsubishi Electric join teacher Jon Loveridge and pupils from the winning school.