Early Years program gains 'Eco' status

What does Karel and Josef Čapek's play RUR, Rossum's Universal Robots have to do with eco-friendliness?

For Riverside School teachers Veronika Ryšánková, 31, and Alison Hellam, 43, the seminal work from 1920 was an opportunity to teach preschoolers about the environment while providing a window into local culture.

Last May, the Prague-based school's Early Years teachers decided to challenge their pupils by encouraging them to build a "robot town" out of discarded items.

For four months, they collected old computers, barbecue grills and other junk from their parents. They then painted and assembled the materials to construct robot bodies, and even gave the robots names.

An expert come to talk to the children about the Čapek brothers, and one of the parents, an artist, helped the children decorate the robots, using the roof of a scrapped car.

By June, a regular "Robot Town" grew up in the garden in front of the school.

"We wanted to encourage the kids to learn appreciation for the environment," said Early Years Principal Carol Jelinek. "Being an Eco School also has a cultural aspect, with involvement from parents and the greater community."

The Robot Town was just one of a range of initiatives launched by Riverside teachers as part of Eco Schools, an international awards program that guides schools toward fostering environmental sustainability, providing a framework to help embed these principles into the heart of school life.

The Riverside School's Early Years have recently reached "Bronze" Eco School status, after a year of recycling, cleaning up the community, gardening and composting.

Over time, their 3- to 5-year-old pupils internalized the basics of environmental awareness, a lesson teachers hope they will develop as they grow.

"We stopped using plastic water bottles and switched to metal cutlery, and encouraged kids to bring in lunches that were not packaged in a wasteful way," Hellam said. "By the end of the year, the children knew how to recycle and what to throw into the compost when they ate."

Plants and animals were also involved, with the children starting their own "wormery" and caring for a pet rabbit named Justin, who was sustained on vegetables from the school garden.

This year, the school plans on taking its Eco School standing to the next level by vying for "Silver" status, which teachers say entails even more environmentally friendly engagement.

"Everybody participates: parents, teachers and children," Ryšánková said. "Each year, you have to do a bit more than last time."

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at
mhulpachova@praguepost.com