Sustainability in Schools

The Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Development

In recent years, it has become apparent that some of the most significant challenges facing Britain’s young people are climate change and global poverty.

In light of this, interest in sustainable development has grown, and more and more people have come to realise that action needs to be taken in order to establish a sustainable society for the citizens of the future.

The Government’s approach towards securing a sustainable future is multi-faceted, and is being coordinated and implemented by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Their main priorities are:

• Sustainable consumption and production (working towards achieving more with less
• Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement (protecting the natural resources on which we depend
• Sustainable communities (creating places where people want to live and work, now and in the future)
• Climate change and energy (confronting the greatest threat)

In addition to these priorities, the government has placed a large emphasis on changing behaviour, and education underpins the success of their overall strategy.

Education and Sustainable Development

In March 2005, the DfES (now the DCSF) outlined its commitment to sustainable development in an action plan for sustainable development in schools, ‘Securing the Future’.

The consultation document invited schools to become models of sustainable development for their communities and set schools a series of targets that they were expected to achieve by 2020.

In May 2006, the DCSF re-committed themselves to these targets by launching the Sustainable Schools Strategy, a document that responded to the comments and suggestions arising from the Sustainable Schools consultation paper and helped schools understand how they could achieve their sustainable schools targets.

Together, these two documents form the basis of all policy for sustainable schools in Britain. Their vision is that schools approach issues of sustainability in a number of areas; through the curriculum, on campus, and in the wider community.

They recognise that schools are uniquely placed in securing the future for young people, both as places of teaching and learning in helping pupils understand the impact that we have on the planet, and as models of good practice, as places where sustainable living and working is demonstrated to young people and the local community.

Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education and Skills commented: “schools are at the heart of their communities and many are already leading the way by encouraging sustainability in different areas of school life by looking at things like efficient use of energy and water. I would like to see this replicated in all schools.

Young people are keenly aware of, and highly motivated by, environmental issues. In many ways they are ahead of adults in their attitudes to recycling and conservation. Channelling this enthusiasm helps raise achievement and improve behaviour and could save money as well as addressing big issues such as climate change – it really is a win-win solution.”

Framework for Sustainable Schools

The Government recognises that schools need clear and straightforward guidance if they are to achieve their ambitious sustainable schools targets and have proposed a national framework to clarify what they would like schools to have achieved by 2020.

This framework is divided into eight sustainability themes, termed ‘doorways’. The doorways provide pointers on different ways of approaching the task of building a sustainable school, by looking at different areas of school life.

Below is a summary of the eight sustainable school doorways, together with an outline of what the government wants schools to achieve in each area by 2020.

Doorway Vision: By 2020, the Government would like all schools …

Food and drink…
...to be model suppliers of healthy, local and sustainable food and drink. Food should, where possible, be produced or prepared on site. Schools should show strong commitments to the environment, social responsibility and animal welfare. They should also seek to increase their involvement with local suppliers.

Energy and water…
...to be models of energy efficiency, renewable energy use and water management. They should take the lead in their communities by showcasing wind, solar and bio-fuel energy, low-energy equipment, freshwater conservation, use of rainwater and other measures.

Travel and traffic…
...to be models of sustainable travel, where vehicles are used only when absolutely necessary and where there are exemplary facilities for healthier, less polluting or less dangerous modes of transport.

Purchasing and waste…
...to be models of sustainable procurement, using goods and services of high environmental and ethical standards from local sources where practicable, and increasing value for money by reusing, repairing and recycling as many goods as possible.

Buildings and grounds…
...to make visible use of sustainable design features and, as opportunities arise, to choose building technologies, interior furnishings and equipment with a low impact on the environment. We would like all schools to develop their grounds in ways that help pupils learn about the natural world and sustainable living, for example, through food growing and biodiversity conservation.

Inclusion and participation…
...to be models of social inclusion, enabling all pupils to participate fully in school life while instilling a long-lasting respect for human rights, freedoms, cultures and creative expression.

Local well-being…
...to be models of good corporate citizenship within their local areas, enriching their educational mission with activities that improve the environment and quality of life of local people.

The Global Dimension…
...to be models of good global citizenship, enriching their educational mission with activities that improve the lives of people living in other parts of the world.

The DCSF’s action plan Sustainable Schools for Pupils, Communities and the Environment contains a raft of ideas on ways in which schools can achieve these targets, from encouraging pupils to walk and ride to school, to ideas about incorporating environmental projects in school buildings and grounds.

What is a Sustainable School

According to the Sustainable Schools Consultation Paper, a sustainable school is one guided by the principle of care:

• Care for oneself
• Care for each other (across, cultures, distances and time)
• Care for the environment (far and near)

This principle of care has far-reaching repercussions and means that the concept ‘sustainability’ moves far beyond the narrow confines of recycling and energy efficiency.

For example, a sustainable school puts a high value on the well-being of its pupils, meaning that is takes a zero tolerance approach to litter, graffiti and bullying, and classrooms are welcoming, clean and reassuring environments.

Similarly, pupils are involved in the design and upkeep of play areas, enabling them to begin to take a sense of responsibility for their school, meaning that incidents of bullying and vandalism decrease.

Clearly, then, care is an extensive concept that can underlie the governing practices of a sustainable school and affect pupils in a broad number of ways, and by demonstrating care in a range of ways and contexts it’s possible to open pupils’ eyes to the potential of sustainable living.

Characteristics of a Sustainable School

• Little is wasted in a sustainable school such as energy, water, food, equipment and paper, and surplus items are composted or donated.
• The school takes health seriously and takes this message out into the community, supporting local suppliers where it can.
• Diversity in the community is celebrated and everyone is valued.
• Issues that matter to young people (from the state of the local park to global warming) are used as a context for learning across the curriculum so that learning is made relevant to their lives.
• The school estate and its local area are used as a learning resource so that pupils engage with real issues in real places
• The school is used as a testing ground where pupils examine the problems and opportunities on their own doorstep, whilst studying their connections to larger, often global challenges.

What Schools Must Do:

There are currently two main areas in which schools are expected to deliver on sustainable development:

• In the National Curriculum, where sustainable development is highlighted in four statutory subjects (Citizenship, Design & Technology, Geography and Science.)
• In large building projects, where government funding is conditional on projects meeting high environmental criteria, as well as any planning requirements of local authorities.

These requirements, however, are the bare minimum, and there is much more that schools can do to become sustainable.

The Government is encouraging schools to address sustainability in three key areas of school life: curriculum, campus and community, and schools are being encouraged to build initiatives in each of these areas to create a whole-school solution to sustainability.

Taking Steps towards Sustainability

There are a number of good reasons for schools to embrace sustainable development, from improving pupil motivation to saving money, to creating a cleaner environment for all.

Schools across the UK are becoming aware of sustainable development through different routes and at different speeds, but all are taking steps along the pathway towards sustainability.

To help with their journey, SCEMES has created the Headteachers and Bursars Handbook of Sustainable Development, to support the movement towards sustainability and to provide schools with useful information that would make it easier for schools to achieve their sustainable development goals.

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement

The Headteachers and Bursars Handbook of Sustainable Procurement was launched in 2007, having been inspired by the Sustainable Schools Consultation Document.

The document set inspiring and ambitious targets for schools to achieve by 2020 but failed to offer concrete solutions to the problem of how they could be achieved.

It stated: “We recognise that these are demanding expectations, but then so are the challenges we need schools to help address. Though we are laying down our long-term aspirations for schools, we are encouraging them to define their own route maps and approaches to success without prescription.”

Following a consultation with school leaders, SCEMES realised that what was lacking was a single point of reference which teachers and bursars could turn to for a summary understanding of the issues confronting education, together with pointers to solutions for many of their questions.

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement was introduced in response to this shortage and has rapidly become every teacher’s first point of reference to understanding and solving the issues of sustainability within education.

Theory and Practice

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement is designed to provide school leaders and decision makers with a wealth of information on sustainable development, and to be a practical guide to help buyers purchase sustainable products and services.

The Introductory Section of the Handbook contains articles from experts in the field of sustainable procurement within education, as well as chapters explaining the principles of the eight sustainable schools doorways.

With case studies outlining what each doorway means to the education sector as a whole and to individual schools, and articles from organisations working in the education sector, this section addresses some of the issues raised by sustainable development, and offers some pointers and practical advice for teachers on how to implement sustainable policies in their schools.

The Directory Section provides purchasers and decision makers with a comprehensive list of sustainable suppliers, all of which produce products and services that can help schools achieve their sustainable schools targets.

The directory is divided into twelve regional and national sections, allowing purchasers to source products from within their local communities wherever possible, and within each section readers can find details of businesses supplying a range of sustainable products, from local farm produce to building design and renewable energy systems to eco-friendly cleaning products.

The Handbook of Sustainable Procurement is currently in its second edition and is sent, free of charge, to 32,000 schools and colleges each April. It is the only directory offering schools such a comprehensive list of sustainable suppliers and has rapidly become the leading resource for educational purchasing.

SCEMES is committed to providing schools with the resources that they need to achieve sustainability, and is proud to have helped numerous schools to take steps towards their sustainable schools targets by helping them to procure sustainable products and services.

Teaching Sustainability

As well as encouraging schools to become more sustainable through the procurement of greener products and services, SCEMES has also run initiatives to help teachers bring sustainable development into the classroom.

In 2006, in reaction to the Sustainable Schools Consultation Document, SCEMES launched its first National Poetry Competition on the theme of The Environment. The competition was open to KS2 pupils (aged 7-11) nationwide, and offered a range of free resource materials to teachers as well as a top prize of £10,000 to the winning school.

The idea was to provide teachers with an easy route through which they could teach sustainable development through the National Curriculum and give pupils the opportunity to voice their opinions about issues such as climate change, which would affect their futures.

The Competition was an outstanding success, eliciting fantastic responses from pupils whose poems showed an acute sensitivity to the world around them, and attracting entries of such a high quality that the finalists were published in an anthology entitled ‘The Green Book of Poetry’.

Following the success of the poetry competition, SCEMES launched a National Short Story Competition in 2008, inviting KS2 pupils to write stories on the theme of ‘One World’. The theme was designed to give pupils the opportunity to develop their understanding of ‘The Environment’ by placing it within a global context, and it struck a responsive chord with students, who responded with a range of emotional and imaginative stories that addressed some of the difficult issues facing our planet.

The winner, Bethany Sercombe, aged 10, won an Arctic Ice Adventure holiday in Swedish Lapland, courtesy of the responsible travel company Explore, as well as a prize of £2,500 for her school. Her story, ‘Little Brown Alien’, beat stiff competition to secure the prize and was widely praised by the competition judges.

SCEMES has been proud to have been able to run its national writing competitions, helping pupils to engage with environmental and sustainable issues and we hope to be able to continue our support of sustainable education with a range of similar initiatives in the future.

For detailed information on sustainable schools policies or to read the Government’s Consultation Documents visit teachernet