YOUR GUIDE TO BECOMING A MORE SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLse-ed.co.uk/edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/sustainability_guide.pdf · With over 5,000 Green Schools Revolution schools, together we

YOUR GUIDE TO BECOMING A MORE SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL

Sharing best practice, top tips, sector expertise and examples of Green Schools Revolution in action to inspire sustainability in your school

www.greenschools.coop

404712 Sustainability Guide.indd 1 14/09/2012 10:28

Welcome.Welcome to our Sustainability Guide with top tips on how to embed sustainability throughout your school as well as build on what you’ve already been doing. As you know, Green Schools Revolution is about inspiring young people, teachers, parents and whole communities to actively engage with environmental and sustainability issues. We hope this guide will also give you pointers for thinking about sustainability in its wider sense – not just turning taps off or saving energy, but thinking about the global impact of our actions at home, in schools and in your community.

To help you on your way we’ve drawn together for you, all in one handy place, best-practice evidence collected by Ofsted, SEEd, researchers, NGOs, the Department for Education and the Green Schools Revolution team to help you on your sustainability journey. You’ll also read how two schools have increased sustainability in their school with Green Schools Revolution.

With over 5,000 Green Schools Revolution schools, together we can make a great impact and help young people to care for their world.

Good luck!

We’d love to hear how you’re getting on. Whether it’s just a news snippet or your whole story, please do let us know. We may include your item in our newsletter and our website news section. Send all your news and stories to us at [email protected]

Tell us your news & stories

of school children think that learning about green issues at school is important*

82%


One of the aims of Green Schools Revolution is to inspire the next generation of green pioneers, and encourage young people to be part of creating the solutions to enable their schools, homes and local communities to be more sustainable.

It’s a positive approach that encourages learning and includes hope, action and participation at a local and global level. It is important that every child, every school and every community around the world sees that they have a role to play and that they co-operate together to make sure there is enough for all – and not just for now; but forever.

A few definitions:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Brundtland 1987

“Sustainability means loving and caring for our planet and others” Pupil, Primary School

“At the beginning, I thought it was all about recycling and saving energy. Now I understand how the parts fit together and have an impact upon society locally, nationally and globally. The best part is that the pupils and I are learning together” NCSL School leader

“Sustainability is living in a way which protects and preserves the world and it’s resources for future generations” Green Schools Revolution Team

What do we mean by sustainability?

There have been many research reports on sustainability in schools and the benefits it brings to everyone involved. As well as preparing young people for a sustainable future, it also enhances a child’s wellbeing by creating a better school environment.

Why become a sustainable school?

• Improvedteachingandlearning • Asenseofcommunity • Savingmoney • Opportunitiestoconnectlocally

• Enhancedchildwellbeing • Betterlearningoutcomes • Abetterschoolenvironment

The benefits


Where do you start?

The important thing is to get going – you are probably already doing more than you think. You could tackle one topic at a time such as healthy living, which might lead on to growing your own food or you could think about the energy consumption in your school and see if it can be reduced.

1. Get started

Have a sustainability vision as part of your school’s mission statement and then build sustainability into your school plans and procedures. Get everyone involved in the vision!

2. Have a vision

Make a plan that includes everyone from caretaker through to teacher, pupil and parent. Create an ethos for the whole school and embed it into your school development plans. This means that every child, every year group and every teacher is involved and is working collaboratively.

Start mapping what you currently do. Think about how much energy and water you use and how much recycling you do? Gather your statistics and calculate the costs. Do you have surveys showing how children come to school? Are there travel issues you need to tackle? Are there healthy eating issues you know are affecting your pupils’ wellbeing?

Identify your next steps and make plans to accomplish them. Look outside the school and see who can help with your plans.

3. Develop your whole-school approach

10 top tips

We have worked with registered charity Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd) to put together 10 top tips to becoming a sustainable school. Formerly The Council for Environmental Education (CEE), the charity has over 50 years’ experience of sector expertise.

SEEd work to identify, promote, enable, and support environmental education and education for sustainable development in the UK. They are an umbrella organisation for Non-Government Organisations who promote shared learning, build capacity and develop cross sector partnerships. These tips are a great overview of how you can build sustainability into your schools’ vision.


Working with your local community and making connections can really help in terms of time and skill sets. Successful schools have worked with local gardeners, allotment holders, local businesses and energy advisors.

Green Schools Revolution Week, 18th-22nd March 2013, is a great opportunity to involve parents and the local community. We have a useful guide to help you run your week – take a look at the whole school section at www.greenschools.coop

4. Getting support and community engagement

A framework can help you to make sure you’ve considered everything and integrated it into your plans.They all involve looking at your grounds and buildings, the curriculum and your whole school community.

Take a look at some of the following for inspiration:

Eco-schools award scheme Sustainable Schools Framework and 8 doorways Pathways to education for sustainable development from WWF-UK Department for Education’s top tips on sustainability in schools at www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/policiesandprocedures/a0070736/sd

5. Use frameworks to help


Schools are now being encouraged to develop their own curriculum to engage students in locally relevant topics. This gives you an ideal opportunity to embed sustainability concepts in pupils’ learning. By focusing on sustainability at your curriculum-planning stage, you can find the best ways to introduce relevant knowledge and skills into core subject areas.

Both primary and secondary schools have begun mapping sustainability topics across subjects and have found it to be a useful way of ensuring that students are developing their knowledge and skills.

Take a look at the 7 key concepts of sustainable development education from SEEd:

1. Interdependence – of society, economy and the natural environment, from local to global 2. Citizenship and stewardship – rights and responsibilities, participation, and co-operation 3. Needs and rights of future generations 4. Diversity – cultural, social, economic and biological 5. Quality of life, equity and justice 6. Sustainable change – development and carrying capacity 7. Uncertainty, and precaution in action – understand that people have different views on sustainability issues and these may often be in conflict; be able to listen carefully to arguments and weigh evidence carefully

For full information visit www.se-ed.co.uk

Don’t forget that assemblies, special events and school projects also contribute to the curriculum and work best when integrated with classroom work. The lesson plans and educational activities at www.greenschools.coop will help you do this.

6. Make it part of your curriculum planning

The National Curriculum is currently under

review, but it’s already clear that the revised

version will be slimmed down and focus more

on core knowledge, allowing schools more

leeway to develop their own local school

curriculum. This is where your sustainability

work can sit.

Through teachers’ experience over the last 10

years, we already know that sustainability

knowledge and skills can be linked with all

subjects. Five subjects, in particular, lead on

this – science, geography, D&T, Citizenship,

and PSHE. They can very easily incorporate

topics such as the sustainable use of

materials and design of sustainable products,

climate change, stewardship of natural

resources, equity, justice, healthy eating,

poverty and global development.

Curriculum update


The other key to a successful sustainable school is encouraging the students or school council, eco club or Green Schools Revolution committee to take responsibility. Also get students to think about learning by their actions and how they may do it differently next time. Think about co-operation and working with the community. Encourage students to develop their own projects giving them responsibility and maybe even a small budget.

7. Get your students fully participating

Support your teachers as they learn more about sustainability. Find out who can help you with this, as many surveys show that sustainability is often new to teachers. And, of course, supporting your teachers in their learning is essential to becoming a more sustainable school. There are many CPD courses, conferences and resources that will give your teachers confidence and ideas. See the helpful links at end of this guide.

8. Support your teachers

Your ethos, your plans, and your successes. This might include things like having energy-monitoring screens in full view, charts showing how much you’ve saved, recycled and upcycled, and celebrations of even small achievements. Tell parents and students in weekly and termly updates. Don’t forget to tell us your news at www.greenschools.coop where you can upload case studies or enter our What’s YOUR Green Schools Revolution competition?

9. Make it visual and share it

Analyse changes in your school, community and the environment by setting up a system that shows the impact of your sustainability work on your students and school.

Develop ways of measuring how your school is becoming more sustainable. What might your school look and feel like as you progress towards your goals? If you measure it, you can see how you’re improving. From measuring your schools carbon footprint to carrying out energy audits, there’s lots of help out there; for example, take a look at the step-by-step Energy Audit in our whole school activities at www.greenschools.coop

10. Evaluate and track change

“Global learning, not just learning about their local environment, is also requested often by students” Think Global 2008

of school pupils rate learning about green issues as more important than science, history and art.*81%


Green Schools Revolution and how it can help you become a more sustainable school Since we launched in September 2011 many schools have been using our resources to increase sustainability as they learn about energy, water, healthy living, and biodiversity. Pupils up and down the country have been finding out where our food comes from with our great farm trips, as well as digging and planting as part of Green Schools Revolution Week.

Some of our schools, such as Ashley Primary School in Surrey, have fully embraced sustainability throughout their school and embedded it into the curriculum. They even cook and grow their own food! Other schools have just started on their sustainability journey and are our using our fun resources as they take small steps to becoming a more sustainable school.

“Why don’t you take a fresh look at our resources and see how they can help you put the focus on sustainability in your school.” Melanie Phillips, Green Schools Revolution team


Setting up a Green SchoolsRevolution committee inyour school

Why do you need a green committee?Setting up a green committee as part of Green Schools Revolution can

really help you champion green issues in your school, support

environmental initiatives and actually make things happen!

The views and support of your wider community are really important

too, and a green committee will enable you to develop ideas and

strategies to influence and monitor change in and out of school.

Don’t forget that improving your green credentials can actually

save you money in terms of energy and waste – that’s great

news for the school budget!So, where do you begin? Well, the easiest thing to do is model

another group already working in your school – like the school

council, for example. Why not recruit some of its members as a

foundation and add others? Here are a few pointers to help you

get your committee up and running:

Who should be on your Green SchoolsRevolution committee?n A link teacher. That’s probably you, but perhaps you have a

colleague who can share responsibilities in case you’re

not available. n Students. How many depends on the size of your school.

Each year group should be represented (even your youngest

pupils can contribute).n An interested governor. Perhaps the science link governor

or see if you have someone with a particular interest in

green issues.n Interested parents. Maybe a parent of a pupil in your class

or someone from the PTA who would like to get more involved

with school life.

n A member of the local community. Ask your local eco-

charity or volunteer group for a representative. They can give

you a wider view of your local community and can perhaps

include your school in local action.n Occasional members. Invite speakers and occasional

members to visit and give talks. For example, a member of

your local authority’s waste-management services, the school

travel-plan team or local gardening club.

Water is an ideal focus as we can relate it to

everything we do in our daily lives. It’s a great

starting point for thinking about how things

are connected and how our actions can have

an impact on others. The lesson plans on our

website draw in science, perspectives on

pollution, information on growing crops, and

the importance of purification to stop the

spread of disease.

Precious water

This lesson highlights all the different ways people around the world need and enjoy water.

Children will learn that water is essential to all living things, making it one of our most

precious resources!

To understand that water is a very important resource.

To know how water is used all over the world.

To create drawings using visual clues from given images.

Learningobjectives

Children should be able to:

Explain how water is a vital worldwide resource and is needed to sustain life.

Describe how water is used in everyday life at home and school.

Decide how to express their personal experiences using artistic methods.

Successcriteria

EnglandGeography

1c: express views about people, places and environments, 3d: recognise how places compare with

other places 3e: recognise how places are linked to other places in the world, 5b: recognise how the

environment may be improved and sustained.

Science2b: recognise that humans and other animals need food and water to stay alive, 3a: recognise that

plants need light and water to grow, 5b: identify similarities and differences between local environments

and ways in which these affect animals and plants that are found there, 5c: care for the environment

Art2c: represent observations, ideas and feelings, and design and make images and

artefacts, 5a: explore a range of starting points for practical work.

Citizenship

2e: realise that people and other living things have needs, and that they have

responsibilities to meet them, 2f: that they belong to various groups and

communities, such as family and school.

Curriculum links

LESSON PLAN – KS1: No water, no world!

Why water is so precious.

SUGGESTED TIME: 45 MINS

Age group No. of pupils in cohort

Classroom support (to be completed by teachers)

WaterThe Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution


It’s always useful to have a group of people to

really drive the sustainability issues in your

school. Set up a Green Schools Revolution

committee – our handy guide will give you

some great tips on how to do this and who to

invite. Your committee should include

students, staff and ideally interested parents.

Getting these groups involved will give your

committee real power to drive change.

Getting together

1. The process2. Carbon footprinting 3. Benchmarking4. Setting targets5. Taking action

SCHOOL ENERGY AUDIT


“It has proved to be a big success and has

also helped to improve attainment in

some of our pupils. The children enjoy

walking to school together; they help each

other and get to mix with different age

groups. The walking bus provides a

healthy way of getting to school and

helps ease some of the car congestion.”

Dawn Senior, Parkview Primary

School Manchester

You can apply for a free walking

bus kit for your school at


A walking bus is a really

good way to highlight the

need for us all to reconsider

our travel options

The great outdoors – Healthy LivingGet outside and put a spotlight on local biodiversity. You may want to build a Bog Garden to attract insects or plant some wildflowers for the pollinators. Our Habitat Heroes in Schools resources contain lots of ideas and ‘how to…’ guides to help you live more happily with the creatures that share our habitat.


BiodiversityHow to makea bog garden

The Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution

Put the focus on energy and set yourself a

target to reduce energy consumption over

the next year. Our Energy Audit is a great

place to start. After your audit you could appoint

energy monitors to remind pupils and staff to

turn off lights and appliances.

You’ll also find a useful energy diary for students

to take the sustainability message home.

Our Energy Audit at www.greenschools.coop

is a great place to start

Energy efficient

It is estimated that bees pollinate a third of all the

food we eat, so without them there are many foods

that wouldn’t be available. Wildflower meadows

provide perfect habitat and feeding opportunities

for pollinators, but since 1945 we’ve lost

97% of this habitat. By planting

wildflower seeds you can

help our bee population.

Help the bees

While you’re out in the school garden

why not think about an allotment. Our From Farm to Fork resources for

primary schools are great for helping

pupils to understand more about seasonal foods and how they play

their part in sustainable development.

Try our ‘Lots of Reasons to eat with

the Seasons’ lesson plan – even better if you’re also growing your

own seasonal vegetables!

In this lesson, your pupils will be finding out all about the fruits and vegetables that are grown

here in the UK and learning when they’re ready for harvesting and eating! They’ll come to

understand seasonality and learn how to cook dishes using seasonal produce.

Learningobjectives

Children will be able to:

Describe when some foods are grown and harvested in the UK.

Name some fruits and vegetables that are grown in each season.Successcriteria

EnglandScienceSc2 Life processes and living things

1b – that the life processes common to plants include growth, nutrition and reproduction.

5b – about the different plants and animals found in different habitats.

Sc4 The Earth and beyond

4d – that the earth orbits the sun once each year.

Geography7b – study a range of places and environments in different parts of the world to show where our food

comes from and learn that choices to buy or not to buy certain foods affect farmers and people in

their countries.

Citizenship and PSHE

3a – Pupils should be taught what makes a healthy lifestyle,

including the benefits of exercise and healthy eating, and how to

make informed choices.

Curriculum links

Healthy Living

Age group No. of pupils in cohort Classroom support (to be completed by teachers)

To learn that British food is grown seasonally, not just on The Co-operative Farms, but on farms across

the UK. To learn why we should eat food when it’s in season.

The Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution

From Farm to Fork

LESSON PLAN – 7 TO 11 YEARS:

Lots of reasons to eat by season.

SUGGESTED TIME: 50-60 MINS


1. The process2. Carbon footprinting 3. Benchmarking4. Setting targets5. Taking action

SCHOOL ENERGY AUDIT


Over the past few years, our pupils have worked hard to make sustainability a priority for the school and the local primaries. After having introduced a successful national campaign – Pledge 4 Veg – we used the Green Schools Revolution as a stimulus to take us to the next level. Our soil 2 soup campaign involves providing pots for students and the wider community with all the seeds you need to grow your own soup, along with a recipe designed by our sixth formers.

We applied for and won a regional award and the funding has allowed us to reach out into the community by running a CPD day with local experts and teachers: Time to Grow Up. We share our new polytunnel and irrigation system with primaries in our cluster group, and we all get together every half term to share ideas. The pupils are heavily involved and have managed to convince several staff to attend cycling classes and walk to work. Everyone enjoys the Summer Eco Fair which is a fun day and allows us to link with neighbouring schools and the public to share ideas and revolutionise more people!

Overall I’d say Green Schools Revolution complements your school’s sustainability journey, however far along that path you are. It can provide direction to new starters, supplement and bolster ideas for those already doing various things, and lend inspiration to those who are well-established.

School Reports.Two schools share their Green Schools Revolution

Wendy LitherlandDirector of Sustainability; St Christopher’s CE High School and Sixth Form, Accrington

“

”404712 Sustainability Guide.indd 10 14/09/2012 10:28

As a teaching Head in a rural primary school in Dumfries and Galloway I have found that Green Schools Revolution actively involves our school and local community with sustainability issues. The Green Schools Revolution Week built upon the inspiring sustainable education programme of Green Schools Revolution LIVE! where we enjoyed a free trip to Glasgow Science Centre in November 2011! The great website resources and activities regularly emailed to us since we signed up have encouraged our children, families, staff and the local community to think differently about the world around them.

We have four Co-operative Learning Hometeams – Pupil Council, Eco, Citizenship, and Health & Wellbeing, and staff and their Hometeam groups used their own ideas in addition to the ready-made resources from the downloadable pack to personalise a day-by-day action plan for Green Schools Revolution Week. We had a rare week of lovely warm sunshine and working together in groups meant all involved had leadership opportunities. We involved our janitor, parents, local farmers, the countryside ranger, community groups and our business partners in planning, decision making and carrying out the agreed activities – from a school grounds clear up, to sharing recipes for leftovers, and a ‘Bring and Swap’ morning where children, staff and visitors negotiated their swaps!

Our children, staff and families have developed important skills, including strong leadership, being able to negotiate, and a heightened focus on their health and wellbeing. It has helped us to realise the vision, values and aims of the school’s development plan. Everyone has opportunities to be involved in a range of collaborative investigative tasks which actively engage and support the Curriculum for Excellence. We now have a greater awareness of the importance of the protection and enhancement of our natural and built environments – including issues relating to global citizenship which are embedded in the ethos and curriculum. This we believe is enabling our learners to understand, respect and care for the rights, responsibilities, values and opinions of others in Scotland, the UK and the wider world.

Jean MillerHeadteacher; Hottsbridge Primary, Waterbeck, Dumfriesshire

“

”


OTHER ORGANISATIONS THAT CAN HELP YOUThere’s a wealth of great organisations that can help you on your sustainability journey, including:

The Co-operative Green Schools Revolution www.greenschools.coop

SEEd www.se-ed.co.uk

Oxfam www.oxfam.org.uk

Think Global www.think-global.org.uk

National College for School Leadership www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege

Fairtrade Foundation www.fairtrade.org.uk

WWF www.wwf.org.uk

This Sustainability Guide is produced by The Co-operative’s Green Schools Revolution in association with SEEd.

*Research carried out by Opinion Matters on behalf of The Co-operative, 2011

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YOUR GUIDE TO BECOMING A MORE SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLse-ed.co.uk/edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/sustainability_guide.pdf · With over 5,000 Green Schools Revolution schools, together we