PUPILS at Osbaston Primary School are building on the success of their Green Flag status and discarding single use plastic bottles.

They have recently signed up to a plastic free campaign and head teacher Catherine Jones is taking the lead in the initiative which incorporates Kymin View, Overmonnow, and Monmouth Comprehesive Schools.

“We went to the Plastic Free Monmouth event as an eco school and were asked to take the lead,” said head teacher Catherine Jones.

“We wrote to the local authority about the milk cartons and the plastic straws and have now changed to glass and we have pledged not to use glitter this term as that is plastic and not degradable,” she added.

She approached the school’s PTFA group and they said they would pay for each child to have a reusable plastic bottle which has the school name on it and the aim is to replace single use plastic bottles throughout the school by Christmas.

The total cost for all the bottles was £420.36, each bottle was £1.43 plus VAT and there was a one-off printing fee of £50.

The plan was launched at an assembly for the 203 children who were each given their own-named bottle with their own name on so they would always find its way back to the owner.