Aims and objectives
Main beneficiaries
The initiative
Outcome
Evaluation and assessment opportunities
Challenges encountered
Cross curricular links
Links local and national
Global links
Supporting resources
Project contacts
National Curriculum relevance

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The aims and objectives
Last year an amazing 74,598 tonnes of rubbish was disposed of in Tower Hamlets! Only 2,039 tonnes was recycled. In response to the council's efforts to tackle the problem of waste, council Waste Education Officer, Phil Maxwell collaborated with teachers and pupils from 10 schools in Bethnal Green, Whitechapel and Shadwell to produce the exhibition 'Rubbish'.

The specific aims of the project were:

· For young people to create an exhibition of their photographs which capture images of waste around their school vicinity.
· For young people to become familiar with the area around their school and recognize ways they can take action to protect and improve their environment.
· To explore what young people think about their surroundings and what they would like to change.
· To challenge people's ideas about rubbish and persuade them that recycling offers a brighter future for the borough and the planet as a whole.
· For young people to learn about where our rubbish goes and understand some of the problems and issues faced by local councils.
· For young people and the community to learn about some of the personal, local and global consequences of rubbish on society.

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The main beneficiaries
The project organisers and teachers involved in Rubbish agree that the initiative has transformed children's attitudes and understanding of the problem of waste in their community and the wider world. As a result pupils have gained a comprehensive understanding of recycling as a positive contribution to waste reduction and the preservation of the world's natural resources, using their own surroundings as a starting point. Participating children have gained opportunities to acquire new skills in photography, learning how to operate cameras, frame and capture an image, and curate their own public exhibition. Not only did this enable children to take a fresh look at their environment, but it has also provided them with a lifelong means to continue to do so.

" I used a camera before but only to take pictures of my family. Now I always take pictures of the environment because it is never boring and changes all the time."
10 year old pupil talking to local East End Life newspaper.

The children's work has been shared with their schools, families and local community voicing the message of waste management and reduction.

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The initiative
The purpose of the project was to increase children's involvement in the management of their local environment.

This was achieved through:

· The development of learning materials which encouraged awareness about the local environment, sustainability and the importance of recycling.
· Workshops with children relating to their local environment, both in and out of school.
· The production of an exhibition by local children which examined the local environment and promoted sustainable environmental practices.

The children were given cameras (sponsored by Cory Environmental and Cityside Regeneration) to capture images of waste in the streets surrounding their schools. Working with Phil Maxwell, pupils uncovered everyday scenes of waste, photographing everything from piles of fruit boxes on market streets to abandoned cars and bicycles, mattresses, broken glass washed up by the River Thames in Shadwell and dumped refuse in alleyways.

Back in the classroom pupils learnt about recycling familiar materials such as glass and paper as well as how metals can be re-used to save energy and the world's natural raw materials.

"We learnt about where our rubbish goes and how we can recycle things like bottles and paper. We can't keep putting our rubbish in the ground all the time so we must recycle more." Pupil talking to East End Life.

The children were then shown the developed photographs they had taken and discussed the images they had captured. They wrote comments on what they could see in the pictures and how changes could be made and action taken to improve the environment. Then pupils, teachers and organisers selected the images for the exhibition.

"Photographs enabled pupils to look at their environment from an entirely new perspective." Phil Maxwell.

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The outcome
Back in school children organised their own displays to share the work they had achieved with the rest of their school community.

The exhibition of children's photographs was launched at the Brady Arts & Community Centre on Saturday 19th May and was opened by BBC film director, Amanda Richardson. During the day arts workshops were run using recycled materials, together with a fashion show Funky Junk, 'A' Team Arts collection from Alternative Fashion Week. Supporting the exhibition was work by the artist Sarah Roberts which featured a display of ropes made from recycled materials.

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Evaluation and assessment opportunities
A special evening for teachers from Tower Hamlets schools was held on Monday 21st May. Refreshments were provided for the 14 teachers who were introduced to the exhibition, workshops and development of the Waste Education Project. Important links were established with schools who were not participants in the Rubbish exhibition.

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Challenges encountered
Rubbish was a victim of its own success as the waste education project was unable to cope with the demand for workshops. Twelve schools attended the various workshops at the Brady Centre. Unfortunately demand exceeded supply given the time constraints of the exhibition itself. However the project will be collaborating again with the Brady Arts Team to relaunch the exhibition at the Dash Gallery, Autumn 2001. This will enable more schools and those in Docklands to have workshops.

"It's been difficult to get other teachers in my school interested in the project." Teacher

"A message went out to my Headteacher inviting teachers to involve their classes in the exhibition and workshops Phil was running. It was only by chance that I found out about it and picked up the information. If I hadn't come across the letter I wouldn't have known about it." Teacher

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Cross curricular links
In addition to fulfilling Citizenship and PSHE objectives this initiative also meets guidelines for the following National Curriculum subject -
English - Group discussion and interaction, composition and presentation.
Art - Exploring and developing ideas.
Geography - Knowledge and understanding of environmental change and sustainable development.
Other - Assemblies and circle time

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Links with other schools, community groups and organisations, local and national
The Tower Hamlets Waste Education Project aims to educate the public through the promotion of sustainable waste management practices by demonstrating its benefits first in junior schools, with the ultimate aim of expanding the concept to include secondary schools, further and higher education establishments.

The elements will include:

· To pilot learning materials in Tower Hamlets schools.
· The production of a school's waste education pack.
· The development and continuous improvement of both the education pack and methods used in its promotion, (including the possibility of further developing the pack for further and higher education). A series of activities on waste and recycling as well as ideas from the pack will also form part of the new website, www.globalfootprints.org, which will be launched in October 2001 by the Tower Hamlets Humanities Education Centre.
· The monitoring of the pack's success and the methods used in its promotion.
· To work in partnership where possible with other existing related projects to avoid duplication.

The project is by its nature, a very major educational programme. It will educate and disseminate information on reducing, re-using and recycling waste with the aim of encouraging children to reduce waste in the home.

The project has entered into partnership with The Children's Society to work with schools to produce an environmental audit of the three community areas designated under the SRB5 programme. This work will inform the development of the project, which aims to develop a curriculum strategy tailored for the specific needs of children in Tower Hamlets.

For further information contact:-
Phil Maxwell Waste Education Officer, 020 7364 6774

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Links with other schools, community groups and organisations in the wider world
Following a visit to Bangladesh in February the Waste Education Officer has initiated discussion with the Drik Gallery in Dhaka to further develop the idea of an international exhibition of children's work on the environment.
Phil Maxwell will co-ordinate the project from London and Shahidul Alum, director of Drik, from Dhaka. The Drik Gallery is an internationally acclaimed gallery, which recently hosted the Chobi Mela - the first festival of photography in Asia.

Discussions to date have focused on producing an exhibition in Dhaka and London, a dedicated website, CD-Rom and catalogue/book.

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Supporting resources
A series of photocopied worksheets accompanied the exhibition.

Tower Hamlets Council is producing a schools education pack and 'Big Book' which will be distributed free to the borough's primary schools.
The Big Book follows two children from the Chicksand Estate as they visit Spitalfields Farm and learn about recycling.

The Dustbin Pack - An education resource pack on waste management, aimed at pupils aged 7-11. Includes a selection of worksheets and activities linked to the National Curriculum.
Waste Watch Europa House, Ground Floor, 13-17 Ironmonger Row, London EC1V 3QG.
Tel: 0870 243 0136

Other photography projects by young people

Shoot Back - Writings and photographs by children from the Nairobi slums.

Eye to Eye - An interactive website based on photographs and stories by young Palestinian refugees. www.savethechildren.org.uk/eyetoeye/

Out of the Dump - Writings and photographs by children from Guatemala.
Available from The Humanities Education Centre, English Street, London E3 4TA.
Tel: 020 7364 6405 Fax: 020 764 6422
Email: hec@gn.apc.org

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Project contacts
Phil Maxwell - Waste Education Officer for Tower Hamlets
Tel: 020 7364 6774 Fax: 020 7364 6922

Brady Arts - the centre's own in-house community arts service.

'A' Team Arts - provides creative opportunities for children and young people as part of the Youth Service. Junior workshops (5-14 years)
192-196 Hanbury Street, E1 5HU.
Tel: 020 7247 0346 Fax: 020 7247 9200
Email: ArtsTeamLBTH@dial.pipex.com

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Key Stage 2 Citizenship
and PSHE National Curriculum relevance

Pupils should be taught -

• to talk and write about their opinions, and explain their views, on issues that affect themselves and society (1a)
• to research, discuss and debate topical issues, problems or events (2a)
• that resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities and the sustainability of the environment (2j)

Pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through opportunities to -

• take responsibility (for example, for planning and looking after the school environment…) (5a)
• feel positive about themselves…by having opportunities to show what they can do and how much responsibility they can take) (5b)
• participate (5c)
• make real choices and decisions. (5d)
• consider social and moral dilemmas they come across in life. (5g)

Key Stage 2 Geography

Pupils should be taught -

• to ask geographical questions (e.g., 'What is this landscape like?', 'What do I think about it?') (1a)
• to collect and record evidence (1b)
• to analyse evidence and draw conclusions (1c)
• to identify and explain different views that people, including themselves, hold about topical geographical issues (1d)
• to communicate in ways appropriate to the task and audience (1e)
• to use appropriate fieldwork techniques and instruments (e.g. a camera..) (2b)
• decision-making skills (2g)
• to identify and describe what places are like (3a)
• to recognise how people can improve the environment or damage it, and how decisions about places and environments affect the future quality of people's lives (5a)
• to recognise how and why people may seek to manage environments sustainably, and to identify opportunities for their own involvement (5b)

Key Stage 2 English

Group discussion and interaction

Pupils should be taught to -

• make contributions relevant to the topic and take turns in discussion (3a)
• vary contributions to suit the activity and purpose, including exploratory and tentative comments where ideas are being collected together, and reasoned, evaluative comments as discussion moves to conclusions or actions (3b)
• qualify or justify what they think after listening to others' questions or accounts (3c)

Writing

Pupils should be taught to -

• choose form and content to suit a particular purpose (1a)
• use language and style that are appropriate to the reader (1c)

Key Stage 2 Art

Pupils should be taught -

• to record from experience and imagination, to select and record from first hand observation and to explore ideas for different purposes (1a)
• to question and make thoughtful observations about starting points and select ideas to use in their work (1b)
• to collect visual and other information (e.g. images, materials) to help them develop their ideas…(1c)
• to use a variety of methods and approaches to communicate observations, ideas and feelings, and to design and make images and artefacts (2c)

Pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through -

• exploring a range of starting points for practical work (e.g. natural and made objects and environment) (5a)
• working on their own and collaborating with others on projects… (5b)
• using a range of materials and processes…(5c)

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