PEMBROKE Primary in Chepstow officially celebrated becoming an eco-friendly school on Monday after receiving their Gold Standard Green Flag award.

To mark the celebration, the school also hosted a FairTrade Day where the pupils took part in activities and workshops throughout the day to learn more on the subject.

Collette Mooney, sustainable development officer from Monmouthshire council, spent the day visiting classes and holding workshops where she explained the importance of Fairtrade produce and the social responsibility behind it. She said: "It has been a very successful day and the children have really enjoyed taking part in the activities and learning all about Fairtrade."

Pupils also took part in poster competitions and demonstrated their cooking skills using Fairtrade ingredients as well as taking part in a number of games that highlighted the theme of the Fairtrade message.

Ms Mooney added: "The school has also done fantastically in achieving the Green Flag award. Nearly half of the schools in Monmouthshire have now achieved the Green Flag award, which puts Monmouthshire amongst one of the top counties in Wales for eco friendly schools."

Pembroke headmaster, Gary Keeble, told the Free Press how proud he was of the school's achievements explaining how hard the school had worked to gain the award after the remodelling of the school's site two years ago. He said: "We pretty much had to start from scratch after the remodelling. We now have gardens for all the classes, recycling and composting bins etc.

"We also offer a healthy tuck shop which stocks some Fairtrade produce. The school is now working towards obtaining its Fairtrade award too."