The International School of Nice shapes tomorrow's citizens with an Eco-Schools silver award

The International School of Nice has participated for the first time in the EcoSchools programme. This is an international educational programme for sustainable development aimed at schools, from kindergarten to high school. ISN Nice has shown its commitment to sustainable development by working on the theme of “waste” this year. 

Since the beginning of the school year, students, teachers and partners have worked together to raise awareness of the importance of recycling, particularly the 3Rs rule of zero waste (reduce, reuse, recycle). 

ISN Nice is a member of Globeducate, one of the world's leading bilingual and international schools groups with more than 55 schools and online programmes in nine countries. All Globeducate members are committed to receiving Eco-School certification, and over the last two years, schools have been working to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals set for 2030.

OUR PARTNERS

The Eco-Schools programme received fantastic support from the local Nice town hall. In order to set up the project, the school benefitted from a free compost bin plus training on how to correctly use it, and primary school students attended workshops on how to recycle. In addition, the association "la recyclerie des Moulins" in Nice, regularly joined us to help recycle school equipment such as desks, chairs, and cupboards to give them a second life.

ACTIONS

Different actions during the year were carried out by students such as the purchase of recycling bins, cleaning days in the playground and at the beach, a challenge to collect corks, recycling used batteries, participation in COP 26, the creation of a compost area and a vegetable garden, and more! The year was also marked by our "eco week". Students created an exhibition with a podcast entitled "From pollution to solutions" to raise awareness of the need to act now to save our local environment. Students were also able to illustrate the importance of our "waste" theme with a collaborative project: the letters “ISN” made of recycled materials. A beautiful symbolic work that shows the dedication of our community.

THE RESULTS

Throughout the year, we measured the impact of our actions. Everyone learnt to recycle in the classroom, from kindergarten to high school students, but also outside the school walls. We created a garden and we even managed to eat our first cherry tomatoes before the summer holidays started. Everyone could see that their efforts were not in vain. But beyond these efforts, the students were able to understand the importance of sustainable development and to raise awareness at home as well.

Mel Curtis, ISN Director, said: "I am extremely proud to be part of such a passionate effort in engaging all of our learners in the drive to change and improve environmental awareness at ISN, both locally and further afield. Awareness raising is an important part of our code and this will continue to be our focus as we look to the year ahead. We cannot live a sustainable lifestyle unless we know what that entails, and schools have a key role to play through their culture, ethos and curriculum."

THE FUTURE 

We are now officially an Eco School with a Silver label; our objective is now to obtain the Gold label for the year 2022 - 2023. Our theme will be biodiversity, an excellent way to continue working on our compost and the students' vegetable garden.

It has been a fantastic year that has demonstrated a wonderful spirit of collaboration, support and effort, as we all worked towards the same goal!