International Eco-Schools Award
At Burton Fields School, we are proud to be recognised as a 'Green Flag with Distinction' Eco School for our 'continued excellence in improving environmental performance and learning'.
We are also extremely proud to have been named as an 'Eco School of the Year' - one of only five school nationally in 2024.
Here is what International Eco Schools said about us:
"Having been an Eco-School for several years, Burton Fields have already made vast improvements to their setting – with a particular focus on providing outdoor learning spaces and opportunities to young people who may not have access to outdoor space at home. Their school had already introduced various features, including outdoor classrooms, ponds, wildlife areas, a bog garden, and a dedicated outdoor learning teacher. With the improvements already made to their school, and a packed school calendar, their Eco-Committee had a tough challenge thinking of further improvements. With this in mind, their Action Plan this year focused on expanding their Eco-Schools’ work beyond school boundaries. They loaned litter-picking equipment to families, turned Walk to School Week into Walk Week with at-home challenges for pupils to complete, engaged in community planting, and provided parents with advice on supporting biodiversity at home. Their commitment to sharing knowledge and expanding their impacts into their community makes Burton Fields School a deserving recipient of one of our Eco-Schools of the Year awards."
Our Eco-Committee, comprising representatives from all classes throughout the school, lead a variety of initiatives throughout the school year.
Hedgehog Friendly Campus 
We have recently been accredited as a Gold Hedgehog Friendly Campus. This accreditation lasts for three years. You can read our feedback report here.
Hedgehogs are vulnerable to extinction in Britain, due to habitat loss, development, roads and garden hazards. There are now thought to be fewer than one million hedgehogs left. They have declined between 30-75% since 2000 in rural areas. City dwelling hedgehog numbers appear to be recovering after a long period of decline but there is more work to be done.
At Burton Fields School, we are trying to help to bring hedgehogs back from the brink. So far we have:
- Created a wild area for hedgehogs that includes log piles, leaf piles and hedgehog houses
- Created hedgehog homes ads part of a Home Learning challenge, which are now situated in our school grounds
- Conducted site surveys to look for, and remove, hazards to hedgehogs and other wildlife
- Put out a wildlife camera to monitor which animals visit our school when we are not here
Further information about hedgehogs, and the ways in which you can help them, can be found using the following links.
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/
https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
Air Aware Campaign
We are working closely with Air Aware Staffordshire to make the environment around our school a healthier place.
We ask people not to leave their car engines idling outside our school, and we encourage everyone to walk, scoot or cycle to school instead of coming by car.
Click on the Travel Map link below for ideas about how you can help in this campaign.
