St. George’s British International School obtains the Ecoschools Green Flag

The Ecoschools assessment committee awarded St. George’s British International School its first Green Flag, after three years within the programme, a prize for all the environmental awareness work carried out both inside and outside the classroom by the educational community of the British school located in Leioa, and a great incentive to continue working for the care of the environment and the sustainability of our surroundings.

St. George’s British International School receives this recognition at the same time as seven other Globeducate member schools in Spain, after the inspection carried out last May by members of Ecoschools, who visited the school in person to measure the success of the programme, ensuring that the objectives established in the individual action plan of each centre had been achieved.

Action plan

What is Ecoschools

Ecoschools is the ADEAC programme that promotes respect for the environment and sustainability in schools with the greatest global reach. It is born in the classroom and extends to the community, through the involvement of the next generations in action-based learning. With an international network of 59,000 schools in 68 countries around the world, St. George’s British International joined the programme three years ago as part of the Globeducate Agenda, an international group of schools of which it has been a member since 2017, and which also encompasses other global events that inspire students to transform the world.

The Ecoschools programme is a seven-step journey that involves the formation of a proactive Eco Committee that reviews green practices and sustainability in the school, develops an action plan for improvements and shares a green code with the school community. The team, led and managed by the students, works closely with the Ecoschools coordinator and the school's management team.

Educating in values

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the programme is that it produces, over time, generations of people who are aware of environmental care and sustainability. The achievement of the first Green Flag for St. George’s British International School is just one step on the road ahead, as each school must follow a seven-step process of change, empowering its young people to lead processes and actions wherever possible.

''Three years ago this adventure to achieve recognition as an Eco School began. It was not an easy task at first to get the teachers and students involved, but now looking back I can't be more proud of the work we have all done together. We have had many changes in our school and although we still have a long way to go, the habits implemented in the school are here to stay. And most important of all, with small gestures we can change the world together!” says Miss Izaro, Ecoschools Coordinator at St. George’s. 

Next steps

Following the evaluation sessions with the Eco-Schools organization teams, a number of recommendations are made for further improvement and impact. The aim of receiving the flag is to recognise the start of a journey, but more importantly to encourage schools to consolidate, expand their work and work harder with the whole school community to create a fully sustainable learning environment.