A group of students, Team Eco, are working to make the school more sustainable, where present needs are met without the ability of future generations to meet their needs affected.

The government wants every school to be a sustainable school by 2020.

"We have held nine meetings, chaired by students, and kept minutes which detail what we have discussed," said KS3 geography co-ordinator Miss Nic Butler.

Some 20 12 to 14-year-old team members have spent two-and-a-half days with Norfolk artist Chris Jackson, creating a sculpture of a traditional Norfolk wind pump from recycled materials under the Norfolk County Council-backed Norfolk Waste Sculpture project.

"The only material available to them was cardboard, plus a few canes and some masking tape," said Miss Butler.

The students – Amy Clark, Chloe Gannon, Rosa Crawford, Fergus Franklin, Dawn Thank- achan, Oliver Cook, Tom Howe, Rose Corby-Smith, Nasko Hristev, Jai O'Hanlon, Nat Newman, Katherine Spoelma, Becky Heaton, Jess Kiddle, Jack Meehan, Daniella Meehan, Shannon Guymer, Ruth Phillips, Emily Cracknell and Chris Swain – created the wind pump, complete with working sails, out of strong cardboard boxes and cereal box "bricks".

The pump will be displayed at the Royal Norfolk Show at the Norfolk showground on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25 and 26.

Afterwards, the sculpture will be put on display at the EcoTech Centre, Swaffham.

Among other projects embarked on by Team Eco students are paper recycling bins in every classroom and office and scrap paper trays in every classroom.

The school's efforts have meant it has gained Silver Eco Schools status through Eco-Schools, an international award programme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education.

"We are working towards the Green flag award," said Miss Butler.

This award was externally assessed by Encams, the organisation which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.