Pupils call on community to clean up their act in fly-tipping fightback

Waving placards and marching peacefully through the streets, pupils from a city infant school are leading an inspiring community campaign against persistent fly-tipping outside their school gates.

Children from St Chad’s CofE School, in Normanton – part of the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) – have organised petitions, staged a series of peaceful protests and even met with local Members of Parliament as they fight to protect the environment around their school.

The Stop the Drop campaign has been entirely pupil-led, driven by children determined to make a difference in their local community. As part of the initiative pupils have named four trees situated just outside the school gates Derek, Sylvia, Violet and Jackson to highlight their importance to the school and the wider neighbourhood.

But the trees have become regular targets for fly-tipping, with household waste repeatedly dumped against them, damaging the area and leaving an unsightly mess for pupils and residents alike.

The school recently held its third peaceful march, which saw families and pupils come together carrying placards and marching through the streets, with passing motorists hooting their horns and joining in the chants.

Children have been spending their lunch breaks cleaning up the site, decorating the trees and planting flowers around them to send a clear message that fly-tipping will not be tolerated.

Year two student Seerat said: “We have been learning about the environment at school and how important it is to care for it, but then we walk to school every day and see people throwing rubbish and large household items like mattresses and fridges near the trees and damaging them.

“We have named the trees, decorated them and planted flowers around them to try and stop people fly-tipping and show how much they mean to us, but people still aren’t listening and it makes me feel furious.”

Mattresses, exercise bikes, toys, pushchairs and fridges containing meat carcasses have all been left in the paved area just outside the school, where many pupils pass each day on their way to the gates.

Baggy Shanker and councillor Cecile Wright recently visited the school to watch a presentation from the school’s eco-council. Baggy was so impressed by the pupils’ work that he invited them to present their campaign at the Houses of Parliament in July.

Further marches are planned, alongside an outdoor concert where pupils will sing environmental songs to the trees to show their commitment to protecting the area and continuing their campaign for change.

Local resident Rob Taylor said: “We have been complaining to the council for years about the issue right outside our doorsteps, but the situation continues.

“The pupils’ passion and determination is already helping to bring more attention to the issue and hopefully we can now start to see some results that show them all their hard work has been worthwhile.”

Despite being regularly cleared, the area can go from clean when pupils leave school in the afternoon to being covered in waste by the following morning. Pupils are also carrying out regular audits to demonstrate the scale of the issue.

Headteacher Kathryn Leach said: “I am so proud of the pupils who have taken on this initiative entirely themselves.

“They have given up their own free time and shown incredible passion and determination to tackle the issue.

“The area, which is a busy thoroughfare for the school, is becoming increasingly concerning and dangerous due to the amount of rubbish being left there. We just hope the pupils’ hard work is rewarded with real results.”

Derby Diocesan Academy Trust CEO, Sarah Clark, said: ““I am incredibly proud of the pupils at St Chad’s CofE School for the leadership, maturity and determination they have shown in tackling such an important issue in their local community.

“Their campaign is a powerful example of young people taking action, raising awareness and working together to make a real difference.

“We fully support their efforts and hope their voices continue to be heard as they push for lasting change.”