Pupils and staff at Inverkip Primary joined forces to clean up the local area

The school held its first school beach clean and eco day, with staff, pupils, parents and members of the local community all getting involved.

The school were supported in their efforts by staff from RBS, the Co-op Funeralcare and the local community council.

During the day all the lights in the classrooms were off, as were the computers and whiteboards. Instead of using electronics, the pupils in all classes took part in eco tasks.

All classes, from primary one to primary seven were also timetabled to walk to Ardgowan Beach and spend some time helping with the clean up before returning to the school.

The pupils armed themselves with all the necessary equipment and made their way along a section of the beach, picking up any bits of plastic and rubbish they found along the way.

Their efforts not only helped improve the appearance of the beach but led to dozens of bags of litter which could have harmed wildlife being removed.

Pupils from primary one to primary four also joined up with local gardening group Bloomin’ Inverkip to plant sunflower seeds.

Eco-committee leader and teacher Victoria Chalmers said: “The children had a ball and the weather was definitely on our side!

“It was a fun-filled day with everyone working together for the benefit of our local community.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at RBS, Co-op Funeralcare and our community council who attended the event and helped out with organising the classes.

“Another big thank you goes to The Chartroom for providing teas, coffees and lunches for our volunteers, and to Kip Marina for providing toilet access, as well as all of the wonderful parents who came along to help us.

“It was a real team event and we couldn’t have done it without them all.”