MSP hears youngsters' recycling song

CHILDREN at Elgin's Curious Minds Education Centre impressed Moray MSP Richard Lochhead this morning with a rendition of their recycling song in a community garden.

The children are celebrating their success in earning a Green Flag award, from Eco Schools Scotland, for their efforts in the community – an accomplishment they've worked hard towards over the last two years. They proudly showed their green flag to Mr Lochhead and he accompanied them as they checked on their fruit and vegetables in the community garden.

The garden was given to the nursery by the charity Rural Environmental Action Project (REAP), which then worked with the children to teach them about planting and composting. The children have since made soup with their own produce.

The youngsters have been learning about the environment and caring for the community. As part of this they have been litter picking all over Elgin. Mr Lochhead said to the youngsters that he thought Elgin had been looking especially clean of late.

The children are encouraged to learn from real-life experiences and are often out and about on visits – whether that be to Elgin's Anderson's Care Home or Quest Day Centre to foster a link between generations, trips to nearby beaches to learn about pollution and sea life or, more recently, at Cooper Park hoping to catch a glimpse of its new resident otter.

The nursery, based in Elgin's High Street, aims to strike a balance between outdoor learning and indoor structured child-led education.

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