Project description
The pilot primarily centred around Fox’s Waste Adventure; an engaging activity booklet designed for lower key stage 2 (KS2) classes to educate children about the key principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These principles are the foundation to understanding the circular economy (CE). Other CE principles are touched upon throughout the booklet. Teachers and educators also receive lesson and craft activities to support facilitation of Fox in class. In order to practically build upon the messages learned throughout booklet, schools also have the opportunity to take part in Fox workshops delivered by the PECT team.
Independently to Fox, the student ambassador programme provides secondary school students with the tools and independence to inspire circularity amongst their peers.
Aim
PECT’s school pilot is focused on giving agency to young people to allow them to make more responsible choices about waste reduction and recycling.
Target audience
- Primary audience: Primary school students.
- Secondary audience: Secondary school students.
Specific goals
To contribute to the overall engagement target of 20 schools across the four partners.
Timeline
October 2021 to March 2022.
Platform
Digital, print, face to face.
Who was involved in this project?
- Lead organisation: PECT.
- Essex County Council.
- Kent County Council.
Organisation contact
Responsibilities
- Project Coordinator.
- Project & Marketing Coordinator.
Other stakeholders involved
Procured services include the booklet designer and printing services.
Where was the project piloted and why?
Peterborough. PECT focused on piloting the activity booklet with an existing network of schools as part of existing education provision. These schools are based in and around Peterborough city.
Why was the project created?
Why we did the project
An activity book was thought to be an accessible tool for a large number of schools and for lots of children to access quickly and easily. It could be taken home to parents and families to share messages in the household whilst also being supplemented by lesson and craft activities in the classroom.
Being printed and distributed as a paper resource – and potentially problematic within the context of the circular economy - it was essential this booklet would be produced using recycled paper and each page would have tips on reuse for another purpose. A digital copy was also available.
Expected value to the circular economy
Supporting young people to learn and move away from the current linear economic model will enable them to build circular principles into their future decision-making. Through the activities in Fox’s Waste Adventure activity book young people understood how waste can contribute to environmental degradation whilst being provided with circular economy solutions and tools.
How was the project implemented?
Cost and staff resource
- 2 x Project Coordinators to draft, review, and liaise with designer/printers. Total 12 hours.
- 20 hours including workshops.
- £1,980 (inc. VAT) Design service for booklet.
- £795 (inc. VAT) Printing (750 copies).
- £30 (inc. VAT) Postage (+mileage for drop-offs).
Compliance
Compliance to project branding guidance was checked with the lead communications officer at Essex County Council.
Monitoring
Performance and impact measured via the principal metric: number of schools and students offered the BLUEPRINT materials. Feedback from teachers, students, and parents/guardians was obtained in order to assess performance for future revisions.
Results
Impact:
- materials were offered to 16 primary schools and 2 secondary schools within the FCE area
- potential students reached: 1,464. Calculated as actual number of booklets distributed, potential distributed through teacher, and workshop participants
- waste workshops delivered to 2 schools and 4 classes; students engaged: 99
Lessons learnt
The strengths of the pilot have been:
- the booklet was generally well-received, and teachers engaged with it in various ways. Some schools created entire projects from the resource. Others completed a few activities in class and sent children home with the booklet to be finished with their families: “Both classes engaged really well with the booklet and really enjoyed the projects they tried!”
- the booklet had a good variety of activities, the most enjoyable being the more practical elements: “The children enjoyed designing and making projects as they enjoy hands on experiences and seeing a final product!”
- PECT’s BLUEPRINT team also offered workshops to schools that received the activity booklets. This helped to solidify the messages from the activity book. Pupils recognised Fox from the booklets which suggests that the character has the potential to become a local ‘mascot’ associated with recycling and waste reduction, particular around school site itself
The weaknesses of the pilot have been:
- better targeted marketing at specific year groups is recommended – the booklet was designed for lower KS2 which was consolidated by teacher feedback. The booklet was not deemed age appropriate for Years 1 and 2: “It was very informative for children in upper key stages, however it was pitched a bit high for Year 2.”
- supplementary materials like videos were suggested to support children’s understanding of the Three Rs in practice: “Links to videos to accompany the booklet would have been very useful”; “We found videos to link to the topic areas to help the children with their understanding and seeing it in ‘real life’.”
- clearer support for teachers to help navigate through the activities: “The resources were good but could maybe have a list at the back for each activity; what we need, and a rough time given.”
How we could further improve and remove barriers:
- create Fox video series to support learning in practice and to engage younger year groups
- amend booklet to include support for teachers and adjust content to reflect feedback with regards to target audience
Risks
- Given regional differences in recycling processes, the information in the activity book is at risk of being inapplicable dependent on the area where it is provided. Information within the booklets should remain generic to avoid miscommunication in different regions.
- Risk of low engagement, i.e. booklet provided to schools but not used in a way that supports greater learning.
Extension to Fox’s Waste Adventure activity booklet:
As a result of feedback from the Year 1 pilot, the BLUEPRINT team at PECT created a three-part video animation series as an additional resource for teachers to use alongside the activity booklet. This widens the age range of children who can enjoy the materials and adds another pathway for those who may engage with learning in different ways.
Cost and staff resource
- £3,300 (exempt from VAT) Video developer.
- 1 x Project Coordinator to draft and liaise with developer.
- 1 x Project Coordinator to review and feedback. Total 10 hours.
Find out more by downloading a copy of the BLUEPRINT to a Circular Economy Activity Pack.
