A report on the litter problem at St. Teilo's Church in Wales high school.

A report on the litter problem at St. Teilo’s Church in Wales high school

The head of St. Teilos Church in Wales high school, Mr. Timothy Pratt, asked me, as a representative of the school council, to research the issue of litter inside and outside of the school premises and report my findings.

To do this I used evidence not only from my own observations during my five years of being a pupil at the school, but from the interviews I carried out with people who work and play in the areas affected by this problem. I was asked to write this report since the problem, which had been ongoing for quite a while, had been brought to the attention of the headmaster following several complaints from the neighbours around the school play areas. I decided that since the play areas seemed to be some of the worst affected by the problem, I would concentrate on speaking to the people who were being affected by it - mainly the people who had made complaints to the school. I then spoke to the pupils who regularly used these areas to see if they had any suggestion as to what could be done about the problem.

Firstly I looked at the lower yard. This yard is mostly used by groups of boys from all years playing football. I t currently has three bins placed around the edge of the yard, however, these are moveable and were regularly used as goalposts therefore being knocked over spilling the contents all over the yard and into neighbouring gardens. A lady called Mrs.Birch spoke to me about the problems this caused her –

“I live very close to the school and although I have no complaints with the pupils, the litter problem is becoming increasingly ...

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“I live very close to the school and although I have no complaints with the pupils, the litter problem is becoming increasingly evident, and there seems to be nothing being done about it. Every time I come out to the yard to speak to somebody all I see is upturned bins and a lot of children. There never seems to be anybody on watch.”

Another place that seemed to be quite badly affected was the top yard (also known as the red gra) and the field. One pupil said,” Even if we wanted to put our rubbish in the bin we couldn’t really because they are all the way down the hill and nobody wants to walk all that way when they are in the middle of a football match, do they?”

The other two areas in which rubbish gathered were the two patio areas in-between the four blocks where lessons are held. These were particularly bad as one area contains a hatch which sells snacks such as crisps, sweets, chips, burgers, pies and pasties at breaktime and lunchtime. The litter from all these snacks was then thrown on the floor, because although there were three bins on each of the patios, they were placed around the edge of the patios and the main crowd of pupils eating these snacks were sitting on the benches provided in the centre of the patios.

I think that although bins are provided the school should think about the placement of these bins and the form they take. For example the lower yard should have the bins provided attached to the ground, therefore preventing them from being used as goal posts. They should also be covered so that if a football knocks them the contents cannot escape. As for the upper yard and field the same should apply, however there should be a greater number of bins, as this space is more than double the size of the lower yard. As for the patio areas, I believe that it is not the amount of bins which needs rethinking here but also the positioning of them, as I have discovered in my research that most of the pupils using this area sit in the middle of the space so it makes more sense for the bins to be placed in and around the patio tables.

Hopefully these few simple changes should solve many if not all of the litter problems, which the school encounters.