75770-26A SWINDON school where nothing is thrown away is to hold an eco conference to show others how it's done.

Covingham Infants School has a no-rubbish policy and recycles virtually every material used in the school.

It has its own compost heap and fruit orchard and staff buy stationery for the school from Swindon's Scrap Store which recycles items people don't want any more.

Now the school wants to pass on the secrets of its eco-success to other schools so will he hosting an eco conference on Thursday, February 10.

Jan Renshaw, the deputy head and science co-ordinator, said: "It all started three or four years ago when we started to recycle paper and to use less paper.

"Then we started re-using envelopes and using headed paper from companies that no longer needed it.

"Now we go and collect stuff like plastic wallets and other stationery from the Scrap Store and all the children have jobs to monitor the recycling and energy saving."

The school is particularly proud of its compost heap.

Miss Renshaw said: "All the peels and cores from the fruit the children receive from the Free Fruit For Schools scheme go on to the compost heap, as well as tea bags and newspaper.

"We have to make sure there is the correct mixture between soft material, such as fruit, and brown material, newspaper and egg cartons."

The school also has a fruit orchard, herbaceous border, bird garden and butterfly garden.

Miss Renshaw said: "We noticed at the start of the project that the children didn't know enough about the plants around them.

"They also didn't know about where their food comes from and what kind of food was good for them.

"We decided this was affecting their learning not knowing about how plants are grown and about how wildlife is all interdependent."

They want other schools to learn from what they have done and also for other organisations in Swindon to learn from it.

"I know that Swindon could do much more to help recycling particularly big companies," said Miss Renshaw.

"Some schools might think it would be an extra burden to teach children about being ecological but it is not.

"And our parents are very supportive indeed which really helps."

The Eco Conference takes place at the school from 9.15am to 2.45pm

Anyone who wants to find out more should contact the school on 01793 525464.

Diana Milne