THE first school on Exmoor to gain accreditation as a Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free School received its award just before breaking up for the summer holidays.

Exford First School gained plastic free school status after children in Kingfisher class and their teacher Laura Cavanagh spent the past three terms working toward the award.

The campaign empowers pupils to make real changes in their school and community, investigating single-use plastics and finding alternatives to use, and challenging polluters to change their ways.

The youngsters took part in two beach cleans and litter picks and audited the items they found to discover what was most likely to be left as litter.

Plastic Free Exmoor community lead Peter Hoyland presents the Surfers Against Sewage award to Exford First School.
Plastic Free Exmoor community lead Peter Hoyland presents the Surfers Against Sewage award to Exford First School. ( )

They also wrote to some of the companies whose products were littering to ask them to reduce and remove the amount of single use plastic in their packaging.

The children learned about the environmental impact of single-use plastics and wrote to their MP to explain what they had discovered and ask for their help in tackling the problem of plastic pollution.

The school also took steps to reduce its own use of single use plastic, including making its own plastic free glitter for Christmas decorations.

Plastic Free Exmoor community lead Peter Hoyland visited Exford to look at the work the children had been doing and to present the award.

Mr Hoyland said: “It was a pleasure to present this award to Exford First School.

“The Kingfisher class, their teacher Miss Cavanagh and the wider school community at Exford, have worked really hard over the past 12 months to attain this award.

“The children’s knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding single use plastics and the harm that they can cause in our countryside, rivers, oceans, and communities is remarkable.

“I was impressed by the children’s commitment to do what they can to help solve this problem.”

Miss Cavanagh said the school would like to acknowledge the support received for the project from Exmoor National Park Authority’s ‘Generation Exmoor’ team.

Any local schools which want to find out more about the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Schools Award should email [email protected] for more information.