What is an action team?

The Action Team is the driving force behind the Eco-Schools work.

The Action Team must include:

• Pupils chosen (or elected) to represent different year groups and the whole school
• A member of staff

The Action Team is also encouraged to include the following:

• Headteacher or a member of the senior management team
• School bursar
• Other teacher(s)
• Governor
• Parent
• Non-teaching staff member
• Caretaker or site manager
• Representative from the local authorities
• Member of the local community

In a large secondary school, trying to involve and inform the whole school can be very difficult and therefore the Eco-Schools programme is designed to be flexible. Individual schools should think about how it will work best in their school. Perhaps the Action Team could be linked to an existing school council. It could even be attached to an existing school club. Whoever drives the process, it is important to decide how the Action Team will keep the rest of the school informed about decisions and involved in the projects that will take place. Possible channels of communication include the school newsletter, website or assembly presentations.

The role of the Action Team is to:

• Ensure that the whole school is aware of the Eco-Schools programme
• Take the lead in carrying out the Environmental Review
• Ensure that all sectors of the school community are represented in the decision-making process (as far as possible)
• Provide a link between pupils, teachers, senior management team, governors and the whole school community
• Take the lead in delivering the Eco-Schools Action Plan (see step 4)

The size of the Action Team, where and how often it will meet is decided by each school. However, the Action Team must keep records of their decisions and the minutes of their meetings should be reported back to the senior school management team and governor meetings.

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