While world leaders have been meeting for COP26 in Glasgow to talk about the climate crisis, pupils at Old Cleeve First School in Washford are busy taking steps to help the environment.

The children are monitoring their use of electricity and, with weekly meter readings, they are seeing how much they can reduce the usage and costs.

Many of the old fluorescent lights in the school have been replaced with LED units.

The school is are also running a crowdfunding project to replace bottled gas heaters with a more energy efficient heating system.

Caretaker Keith Hunt – a ‘Litter Heroes Ambassador’ for Keep Britain Tidy – has been bringing in bags full of rubbish which has washed up on the West Somerset coast to help pupils learn about plastic waste and the problem of ocean litter.

The bags are sorted and hard plastics put aside for the Keep Britain Tidy Ocean Recovery Project, which will run over the next few months until it is taken away to be made into something special.

The last project saw ocean plastic being given a new life as a stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2018.

In the next couple of weeks The Woodland Trust will be delivering enough tree saplings to the school for every child to plant along the Steam Coast Trail as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy marking her Platinum Jubilee.