The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-17145, in the name of Christine Grahame, on the 30th anniversary of eco-schools and success for St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates St Andrew’s RC Primary School in Gorebridge on its commendation for learning for sustainability in the international environmental Eco-Schools programme, by the environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful; understands that St Andrew’s RC Primary School has gone above and beyond in its Eco-Schools activities across all of the required categories; further understands that Eco-Schools is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, and that it is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world, operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful, and considers that such schemes are helpful in encouraging young people to take an interest in environmental issues.
17:03
I thank all the members who signed my motion, allowing this debate to proceed, and the members who have stayed behind to contribute to it.
Although the motion refers to St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge, we will all have examples that show how important eco-schools and green flag schools are in Scotland. It is the young who will inherit Scotland and this precious planet that is so at risk from the activities of previous generations.
Eco-Schools is one of five international programmes operated by the Foundation for Environmental Education and it is delivered in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world, with 19.5 million children, young people and educators engaged worldwide in 74 different countries.
The green flag award is a visible indication of a school’s commitment to learning for sustainability; it is an internationally recognised accreditation for excellence in sustainable education.
The Scottish Government funds and promotes Eco-Schools Scotland as part of its education and sustainability strategy and is seen as a leader in the Eco-Schools initiative.
St Andrew’s RC primary school previously earned the green flag award through the Eco-Schools programme. This year, it has established an eco squad comprising students from the nursery up to primary 6 and primary 7, under the auspices of class teacher Mrs Valentine. The students are focusing on two key areas. The first is caring for the earth—for example, by using donated trees to regenerate existing woodland in the school grounds, creating a dedicated outdoor learning space. The second is supporting the less fortunate, which they are doing by collecting and cleaning crisp packets, which are then sent to a homeless charity, where they are repurposed into blankets for those who are in need. I have no idea how to repurpose a crisp packet into a blanket, but I will need to find out. I have not googled it; maybe the information is there.
Earlier this year, in partnership with the garden for life forum, nursery and school pupils aged three to 18 were invited to design a miniature, pocket-sized garden. Those provide food for people, they are good for wildlife and they reuse something. More than 130 entries from 18 local authority areas were submitted. They represented the work of whole classes and schools, they all demonstrated fantastic imagination and they were creatively linked to the 2025 theme, “our heritage, our future”.
The designers of the 32 winning entries have now been invited to build and grow their garden at their schools before filming or photographing it to be displayed as part of an online garden showcase in June, where people will be able to vote for their favourite garden. The winning designs will be turned into real mini-gardens.
Adding to the green flag award, which I mentioned, two Midlothian schools have been selected to enter the competition to design the perfect pocket garden—schools have to get selected to enter the competition; they cannot just go in it. Those schools are St David’s RC primary school in Dalkeith and St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge. The St Andrew’s design was called “Our heritage mining garden”, because Gorebridge has a huge mining history. St Andrew’s also won a certificate of recognition in the 2023 competition.
The competition links to Eco-Schools Scotland’s work on food and the environment, biodiversity, school grounds, climate action, health and wellbeing and the new heritage topic. Participation in the pocket garden competition can be part of their green flag application.
Winners will be invited to display their pocket garden in the online showcase—not in their pockets; they are not that small—so that people across Scotland can enjoy them and vote for their favourite three. Previous pocket gardens have been displayed at the “Gardening Scotland” fair in Edinburgh, where they have been visited by the BBC “Beechgrove Garden” team and the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. All winners will also be judged for three discretionary awards: interpretation of the themes, wildlife friendly and food for people.
The garden needs to be ready to be photographed in the week beginning 26 May 2025, when it should look at its best. It should be grown without using pesticides and fungicides, be peat free and use renewable materials. The gardens are truly pocket sized, with a rectangular footprint of 120cm by 100cm or, in old money—which I need to talk in—3 feet by 11 feet. That really is a pocket-sized garden. They can be any shape and any material can be reused to create them. It is really imaginative. I might have a go—although not in the competition, as that would be unfair. What a challenge it would be for us to try it.
I look forward to seeing the imaginative entries that engage children, not just to keep Scotland beautiful—which it is—but to contribute to the sustainability of the planet.
Good luck to St Andrew’s and St David’s. I hope that you will give them your votes.
17:08
I wisnae intending to speak in this debate, but, on reading about the Eco-Schools programme, I thought that I would push my button. I thank Christine Grahame for bringing the debate to the chamber. She has set out very well the Eco-Schools sustainable schools programme and celebrated St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge, in her constituency.
I have had the opportunity to learn about the global Eco-Schools programme, and I will be pleased to highlight some schools in Dumfries and Galloway. Lockerbie academy is participating and Shawhead primary school is another example of a school that is involved in the programme.
Georgetown primary school won awards last year for its climate action project. It invited a proponent of the local slow fashion movement from Dumfries, Marie McKinnon, into the school to talk about fast fashion and about how everybody is into disposable clothing instead of promoting a more reusable type of clothing. There was a fashion show in the school, which spurred on the children to take action to be more sustainable in the clothes that they were choosing and wearing. That was one example that I learned about in preparation for this afternoon.
I am sure that Emma Harper will not mind my joining her in celebrating the success of schools in Dumfries and Galloway, including the nursery that my two go to at the Johnston school in Kirkcudbright.
Shawhead primary school won a special commendation for learning for sustainability. It went above and beyond in all the required categories when it came to eco-schools. That should be set out specifically.
It is absolutely great that Finlay Carson is on his feet, celebrating the schools that are participating in the Eco-Schools programme—well done. We do have some common ground across the chamber in some of our debates.
There are seven simple steps in the framework for the programme. Step 1 is basically to create an eco-committee that the young people lead, with teacher support. Step 2 is to complete an environmental review, which helps everyone to know how eco-friendly their school is and where improvement can be made. Step 3 is the biggest part and is the creation of an action plan. That can be done over the whole year, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint to make the school greener. The proposals include swapping toys, creating bug hotels, planting vegetables and switching lights off in places where they are not needed or where rooms are not occupied. Some of the actions can be quite simple to take forward.
Step 4 is to link the environmental work into the school curriculum across the year, so that it can be embedded as part of what we need to do to protect our planet. Step 5 involves others in protecting the planet through collaboration, with school events, stalls in the community and actions with family and friends.
Step 6 requires the eco-committee to monitor and evaluate its actions. That monitoring and evaluation helps pupils to understand and demonstrate the impact that has been made. That can be done before and after, using pictures, graphs or charts.
Step 7 is the final step, which is the eco-code. It involves creating a mission statement and letting the world know about the school’s or the pupils’ commitment to protecting their planet.
All of that good work can be uploaded into the eco-schools portal between 1 May and 31 July, so that a bid for a green flag award can be made. That is where the flag can be flown at the school, letting everyone know about the school’s commitment to the planet.
I have learned a lot in preparation for the debate. I will pick up with the local schools that I have mentioned to learn more about their progress and to congratulate them on their efforts and their participation in the Eco-Schools project to protect our planet.
17:13
I am pleased to support and speak to the motion and to commend St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge for its engagement in the Eco-Schools programme.
I also take this opportunity to commend Keep Scotland Beautiful for its work across the south of Scotland. From East Lothian to the Borders and into Dumfries and Galloway, Keep Scotland Beautiful has helped communities, businesses and councils to clean up our towns and villages and protect vital green spaces. Last year, the medium town trophy was won by blooming Haddington, and the large village trophy was won by Earlston in bloom in the Scottish Borders.
With regard to the motion before us, I had the real pleasure of attending St Andrew’s several years ago, and I was impressed with the school and the children, one of whom, four-year-old Jude Davie, won my Christmas card competition that year. I visit a lot of schools, as does everyone in the chamber. When I am not visiting them, I enjoy their visits to Parliament, and, indeed, enjoy joshing with Christine Grahame when schools from our areas visit. When I visited the nursery at St Andrew’s, I found it to be a happy and creative school, and I am thrilled to be part of today’s debate and to learn more about its engagement with the Eco-Schools programme.
It is important that everybody remembers that Scotland is a beautiful place and that we need to do more to preserve and defend its ecology. Likewise, it is important that we collectively support the work of the Eco-Schools programme and Keep Scotland Beautiful, because it is important that such initiatives and projects go into our schools.
I was interested to learn that, as Christine Grahame has mentioned, 19.5 million children across 74 countries are engaged in the programme and to find out that Lockerbie academy was one of the first schools in the south of Scotland to secure eco-school status, which it did in 2014. Such initiatives are important in promoting training and mobilising young people and volunteers not only to learn more about the ecology of Scotland but to engage in projects such as litter picks and looking after local green spaces.
Like Christine Grahame, I will be off after this meeting to find out how one makes blankets out of crisp packets. Given the amount of crisps that I eat, I suspect that I could probably stitch several together.
Keep Scotland Beautiful is involved in a number of initiatives across the south of Scotland, including in prisons. For example, His Majesty’s prison Dumfries has a wellbeing garden, which the charity has rated as outstanding. The garden was established so that prisoners, particularly those who suffer from mental health or addiction issues, could come into outdoor space. That is exactly the type of innovative and transformative project that we would like to see right across the country, not only in our schools but in other organisations and institutions. It is vital that we recognise not just the contribution of the Eco-Schools programme but the work of Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The south of Scotland region, which I represent, is certainly beautiful, but it is important that we maintain it to ensure that it stays that way. It is only through such engagement that we can create understanding and provide young people with the right information, so that they can go on to support not just our local ecology but our beautiful green spaces, which take work to maintain. Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Eco-Schools programme continue to do amazing work on the ground, and it is imperative that the Government matches their efforts through its policies and funding.
I just wanted to let members know that I have now googled the question about blankets, as I perhaps should have done before the debate. The search result says that
“empty crisp packets can be repurposed into survival blankets by fusing them together using heat, creating a reflective layer that helps keep people warm”.
There you are, Mr Hoy.
They say that every day is a learning day. I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Education will approve of the fact that I have now learned something in the chamber.
The work of Keep Scotland Beautiful will unquestionably help to make Scotland a cleaner and greener place for everyone, but we all need to play our part. I am pleased to have been able to support Christine Grahame’s motion by speaking in the debate, and I look forward to visiting St Andrew’s school again, as well as the many other schools in the south of Scotland that are engaging in this important initiative.
Foysol Choudhury will be the final speaker in the open debate.
17:18
I congratulate Christine Grahame on securing this members’ business debate and giving us all a lesson on making crisp packets into blankets. I especially congratulate St Andrew’s primary school on its commendation for learning for sustainability in the Eco-Schools programme. It is a testament to its outstanding commitment to building a sustainable future and creating global citizens. I also recognise the work of the Eco-Schools team at St Andrew’s primary school, and I am sure that, having received that commendation, they will be happy that their hard work has paid off.
I am lucky enough to represent a region that includes, alongside St Andrew’s in Gorebridge, so many other schools that go above and beyond to protect our environment. Since the younger generation will bear the brunt of climate change, it is our responsibility to equip them with the knowledge and skills to protect and cherish the environment. I saw that in action a few weeks ago, when I joined my colleagues Sarah Boyack and Ash Regan to meet inspiring young people representing more than 30 schools at a Protect Our Future demonstration held outside the Parliament.
Those young people presented us with a paper chain with 6,000 handwritten messages from children across Scotland, demanding that we keep our promises on climate change and deliver for the younger generation. The paper chain is not only a symbol of unity in its demand, but a warning that, if we do not keep our promises on climate change, the chain will break, along with our young people’s futures. I was humbled and moved by that meeting, but I was heartened to see that our young people are so well informed about the biggest issues that we face as a society. It makes me more confident about our future.
I have no doubt that the Eco-Schools programme, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has played a large role in creating a generation of young people who understand the importance of the natural world. Since the programme’s launch, more than 8,000 green flags have been awarded to Scottish schools. The programme has been expanded to include subjects such as food and global citizenship, and it is now running in schools in 79 countries.
Events are planned for the 30th anniversary, with the eco-schools celebration week being held in June. That will include the one planet picnic, in which schools around the globe will celebrate their achievements in promoting sustainability. It will act as a demonstration of the “act local, think global” mantra that is so important in tackling the climate emergency.
Before that, however, I hope that St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge will be celebrating its well-deserved achievement in receiving this commendation.
I call the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Jenny Gilruth, to respond to the debate. You have up to seven minutes, cabinet secretary.
17:21
I thank Christine Grahame for lodging the motion, and I thank colleagues on all sides of the chamber for what has been a very positive debate. I did not know that I was going to learn about survival blankets made from crisp packets, so I put on record my thanks to Christine Grahame for that. I am sure that other members share that sentiment.
As the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, I welcome the opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the international Eco-Schools programme and the special commendation for St Andrew’s RC primary school for its work in the programme. I will begin by reflecting on the school’s success in the programme, which we heard about from Ms Grahame and which is a testament to the commitment and hard work of all the school staff in creating engaging and meaningful learning opportunities for their young people.
Christine Grahame was right to say that the Eco-Schools programme is an investment in the next generation. It was good to hear about the work of the eco squad, directed by Mrs Valentine, and the outdoor learning space that they have created. The miniature, pocket-sized garden sounds like a fabulous initiative—although quite challenging, I would imagine. I am very much looking forward to the online garden showcase, and, as Ms Grahame stated, St Andrew’s RC primary building on its success as an eco-school. It is a really imaginative project, as she rightly noted.
We heard from Emma Harper about Lockerbie academy—and about Georgetown primary school, too, I think. I see the member nodding, so that is correct.
It was fantastic to hear more about the slow fashion movement—I learned a little bit about that in my previous role as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development—and about the challenge that the movement presents to the fast fashion approach that we often see on the high street today.
We heard from Finlay Carson about the work of Shawhead primary school, also in Dumfries and Galloway, on learning for sustainability and about the really impressive work that those young people and their teachers have undertaken.
Emma Harper talked about what is involved in the process of becoming an eco-school. As members will have heard this evening, it is challenging and requires real commitment from staff and young people alike.
Craig Hoy rightly mentioned the vital work of Keep Scotland Beautiful, and I repeat and commend his sentiment. I put on record that we could not run the Eco-Schools programme without Keep Scotland Beautiful. Mr Hoy also mentioned St Andrew’s RC primary nursery and the happy and welcoming learning environment that it provides to the young people there. I think that he also said that a Christmas card winner had been selected from that nursery class—is that correct? I see him nodding. That kind of welcoming environment is always a testament to the efforts of the staff and support workers in our schools, and I again put on record my thanks to them for all that they do to support and teach our young people every day.
Is the cabinet secretary aware that, when schools or councils face cash pressures, it is often initiatives such as the Eco-Schools programme—in which councils provide, for example, free plants or access to their nurseries, by which I mean plant nurseries rather than educational nurseries—that are affected? There are sometimes financial constraints on councils that affect the roll-out of such schemes, so will the cabinet secretary continue, in Government, to advocate for the relatively small but important amounts of funding that allow those projects to be delivered?
I am more than happy to give the member an undertaking in that regard, and I recognise the point that he makes.
We also heard from the member about the broader celebrations that are planned in June—actually, it was Foysol Choudhury who made that point, I think. My apologies, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am sure that all MSPs will use June as an opportunity to get out and support schools in their constituencies and regions.
We have heard much from members about the Eco-Schools programme. However, as Christine Grahame’s motion recognises, the contribution of the programme more broadly over the past 30 years has been phenomenal, and I would like to reflect on how far that work has come.
Eco-Schools was launched in the UK, Denmark and Germany back in 1994, with Scotland awarding our first green flag in 1995. As we have heard this evening, the programme has, in the years since, helped to articulate what climate education means, and it has supported teachers in translating that into their day-to-day practice in our schools.
In the years since 1994, pupils from all over Scotland have demonstrated a passion and an interest in the themes covered by the Eco-Schools programme. Our schools continue to engage with a wide range of activities under the programme, including the green flag award itself; the climate-ready classrooms programme; the young reporters for the environment competition; and live lessons delivered via our Glow platform. Our schools are invited to take part in a further set of live lessons for natural Scotland week between 12 and 16 May, to mark the United Nations decade for ecosystem restoration and to explore what we can all do to help protect and restore our natural heritage.
Eco-Schools has grown and developed in Scotland alongside our curriculum for excellence.
My point is linked to curriculum for excellence. We have been talking about how important it is for young children to understand the environment and sustainability; there are children who will not engage in the classroom in the same way as others, but, once they get outside into a garden and planting things, they begin to engage with life around them and to express themselves, speak and become confident. The programme is, therefore, a winner all round.
Ms Grahame will not be surprised to hear that, as a fellow former teacher, I agree with that sentiment. We know about the importance of outdoor learning in increasing and improving attainment, and having our young people engage in that way is hugely important. I have observed that engagement myself in many schools across the country—it really supports an enriched learning environment.
I am conscious of the time, Deputy Presiding Officer. In closing, I want to say that I am very proud that Scotland was one of the first nations to embed learning for sustainability as an entitlement for all learners, and I am pleased that Eco-Schools continues to engage our children and young people and to inspire them to take an interest in environmental and social issues and to deliver, through their own actions, positive change across their school community.
Once again, I pay tribute to the achievements of the pupils and staff at St Andrew’s RC primary school and congratulate Keep Scotland Beautiful on the 30th anniversary of the Eco-Schools programme.
That concludes the debate, and I close the meeting.
Meeting closed at 17:28.Air ais
Decision Time