Tower House was recently recognised by the Richmond Guardian newspaper for being an eco-friendly secondary school. We received the commendation at the Green Guardian Awards 2007 on Friday 28th September.

Tower House was nominated for an award because of the work undertaken by the Year 8 boys last year. As part of their Dan Phillips Award activities the boys had volunteered to assist the Environmental Trust of Richmond Upon Thames and had enthusiastically contributed many hours of their free time at weekends to work in different locations in the Borough.

We believe this is a unique initiative for a School and more particularly for 12 and 13 year olds to be involved with on such a regular basis and we are proud that the boys received recognition for their sustained efforts. They gained massively from their experiences of working with adults and other volunteers and enjoyed learning to use new tools and skills at each project.
Their activities included work at:

Grove Chapel. (Sept) Clearing a large area, overgrown by nettles, brambles and trees. Digging a footing and cementing in a new notice board at the front of the Chapel.

Raft building (Oct) on Corporation Island, Richmond to encourage nesting swans. The School collected quantities of plastic bottles to recycle and use as floating rafts.

River Thames Cleanups at Richmond and Twickenham. (Nov)
Ham Lands. (Jan) Japanese Knotweed removal and other litter clearance activities.

Kew Reach; (Feb)Willow spilling. Gathering bundles of willow to bind and creating a fence as a defence to protect the eroding river banks. Creation of new habitats.

Warren footpath.(April) Clearance of Himalayan Balsam and planting of 600 foreshore plants.

In June, at the instigation of Tower House, a whole day was arranged to work at Crane Park Island. There the boys raked and cleared up wide areas of strimmed undergrowth, pulled out mature Himalayan balsam and painted over graffiti in public areas. They pond dipped and had hoped to work with and instruct younger children from a local school but adverse weather led to the cancellation of the visit by the younger children.

In addition several boys undertook a Flag day collection for Leukaemia Research and took part in a sponsored swim organised by The Rotary Club raising £3,368 for local charities.

The voluntary work scheme promoted at School is now in its second year and the current Year 8 are just as keen to get involved in the community and to work for the local environment.

The School encourages a positive approach to all green issues but this hands-on Year 8 involvement (supported by staff and parents) is just one example of how a broader education is being delivered to our young people and of the way an understanding and realisation of the urgent need to preserve what we enjoy, is being actively promoted at Tower House.