Through the Sustainable Schools Doorway

Sustainable Development is an issue that’s coming increasingly high on the agenda for school leadership staff, and as a result school buyers are under increasing pressure to source sustainable products and services for their school.

The Government wants every school in England to be a sustainable school by 2020, and has outlined a series of key objectives that it would like schools to achieve by this date. As a result, schools are now under pressure not only to use the curriculum to show pupils the impact that we are having on the planet, but also to become models of good practice, where sustainable living and working is demonstrated to young people and the local community.

Making Changes

The changes that many schools need to make to become a Sustainable School are wide-ranging, and involve changes to policies, buildings and buying practices.

For some school leaders, these changes may seem daunting and expensive, and the path towards sustainability might appear to be a difficult one, but a wide variety of assistance is available to help schools on their sustainable schools journey.

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement is the leading educational resource for sustainable purchasing and has been designed to help school leaders along the pathway towards sustainability.

The Handbook was inspired by the government’s Sustainable Schools Consultation Document, which encouraged schools to make their buildings and practices more sustainable, but failed to offer concrete solutions to the problem of how this could be achieved.

SCEMES realised that Headteachers and Bursars needed a single point of reference that they could turn to for a summary understanding of the issues relating to sustainability and so created the Handbook of Sustainable Procurement and distributed it free of charge to 32,000 schools nationwide.

Sustainable Suppliers

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement is the only directory offering schools a comprehensive list of sustainable suppliers and is an invaluable tool in helping buyers to source sustainable products and services for their school.

It provides teachers and school procurement staff with all the information and resources that they need to purchase sustainable products and services and thereby achieve their sustainable schools targets, and has been incredibly well-received by education professionals across the country.

In addition to a comprehensive directory of sustainable suppliers, the Handbook contains a selection of articles written by experts in the field of sustainable development as well as chapters on each of the sustainable schools doorways as outlined by the DCSF.

The 2009/10 edition was circulated to 32,000 schools in April and contained articles from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) amongst others.

SCEMES is committed to connecting schools with sustainable suppliers and is proud to be helping schools achieve their sustainable schools targets.

To find out more or to request a FREE copy of the Handbook of Sustainable Procurement for your school visit www.scemes.com