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ENV I RONMENTAL L EARNING
pupils to monitor the use of lighting, computers, whiteboards, printers and photocopiers, ensuring they’re switched off unless they’re actually in use. Whether schools in our area are working towards official accreditation or doing their own thing, they are coming up with some impressively imaginative schemes. Some, like planning energy-neutral new buildings, are breathtakingly ambitious. But ideas don’t have to be expensive or complicated to be effective. In one local school, for example, pupils have been making simple radiator heat reflectors out of cardboard and foil. Other initiatives include ditching single-use cups, opting for compostable, plant based containers, using more solar
accreditation process. The international scheme involves schools as far afield as Colombia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, and helps pupils to find ways of getting their school to reduce energy, water and waste – developing their confidence and self-esteem in the process. Schools have to complete a series of steps to get their awards. One of the non-negotiables consists of setting up an eco-committee made up of pupils from different year groups, who work together to look at the school’s environmental record and come up with new ideas that are then linked to the school curriculum. Another climate action organisation, Ashden, which runs the LESS CO2 sustainable schools programme, urges
panels and upping rates of recycling. Another school has cut back substantially on food waste by giving pupils smaller portions at meal times. It has also reduced its water consumption by around 10%. Some young people feel that change needs to be faster and more radical – a new local group set up earlier this year is designed to give children and young adults a forum to plan direct action and inspire change at a national level. With environmental issues a priority as never before, educational bodies have a vital role to play in adding a green dimension to education and involving everyone – particularly pupils – to bring about real, significant and permanent change.
CAMBRIDGE EDUCATION GUIDE
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