Sustainability at HMC schools

Bristol Education Partnership: inspiring our community towards Net Zero
Blog by Fiona Carnie, Project Lead, Bristol Education Partnership

The fourteen secondary schools within the Bristol Education Partnership (BEP) – including 6 members of HMC – are working hard to tackle the climate emergency and are exploring ways of reaching the target of net zero carbon emissions at the earliest opportunity.

The BEP Climate Challenge Project includes:

• Climate Challenge conferences to report on progress and share ideas.
• Looking at how to incorporate Climate Change Education across the Curriculum.
• Careers and Sustainability events.
• Supporting schools to introduce more locally produced, sustainably farmed, seasonal and nutritious food to benefit whole school communities as well as local businesses.

Further details of which can be found in the blog, here.

Haileybury Youth Trust training refugees in Uganda to be the next generation of climate-friendly builders
Case Study by Russell Matcham, Director, Haileybury Youth Trust

Haileybury Youth Trust has both a unique history and a host of unique ways to simultaneously tackle climate change and provide education, training and support to refugee communities. This new case study describes some of the positive impacts recent projects have had in Uganda and for climate change, as well as explaining how pupils back at Haileybury benefit from the projects too.

Learn more about their work here.

A Meating of the Minds: Gaining whole school consensus to reduce carbon footprint through catering
Blog by Oliver Staines, Head of Geography & Sustainability Coordinator, Leighton Park School

Catering at Leighton Park is excellent. Some children are registered for places at least in part due to ‘scrumptious brownies’. But there’s a problem. Catering accounts for up to 60% of CO2 emissions.

To coincide with COP28, the school is trying something new to begin tackling the issue. They are focussing on the emotive and polarising issue of steak, with a campaign entitled ‘A Meating of the Minds’.

Further details about the campaign, including full lesson resources, can be found in the blog, here.

The Manchester Grammar School:
Sustainable power at school and away

Manchester Grammar School has an active student council who are closely involved in many of the school’s efforts to improve their environmental sustainability. Following the student council’s increased awareness around the environmental impact of transport, Manchester Grammar School is delighted to be working with Swans Travel to provide a battery-electric operated home-to-school coach service. The zero-emission coach will be used by pupils who travel to school from a wide area across the north of England, as well as for other members of the community during school holidays and at weekends.

The school’s Estates Department have also been busy installing their first solar system on the roof of the sports hall, alongside other measures to help the school reduce their carbon  footprint: installing cavity wall insulation, further roof insulation and the expansion of LED lighting throughout the whole school site. There are now 210 solar panels on the Michael Atherton Sports Hall, which has an estimated annual energy generation of nearly 70,000 kWh.

Growing Green: Pocklington School’s Sustainability Initiatives
Case Study by Pocklington School

At Pocklington School they have introduced various sustainability topics and eco-issues into the curriculum – both indoors and outdoors, and throughout their extra-curricular provision too. From cross-curricular projects spanning ICT, art and geography to a student-led eco-committee, they’re proud of the progress they’re making. They’re also pleased to be implementing some of the environmental changes they’re teaching and the fact that they can evidence the positive impact the work is having on their students past and present.

Find out more, here.

Preparing the next generation: Sustainability Pathway at St Edward’s School, Oxford
Blog by Hugh Stephens, Director of Teaching & Learning, St Edward’s School, Oxford

Pathways and Perspectives are new, fully accredited Middle Years courses offered to pupils at St Edward’s School, Oxford, from which pupils can choose two to take alongside their GCSE’s.

Here, Hugh Stephens explains more about these new courses, with a particular focus on the Sustainability Pathway, and the fact that the school hopes it will prepare their young people to have an informed and positive impact on the future of our planet.

Further details can be found in the blog, here.

Wellington School:
One Planet. One Life. One Cup.

In order to reduce their impact on the environment, Wellington School and their catering supplier, Thomas Franks, have worked with Event Cup Solutions to introduce the pioneering site-wide sustainability initiative, the ONE Planet ONE Chance Reusable Cup System.

Across the campus there are designated collection points to dispose of cups, which are then collected, washed and reused in the café. A short video, produced by the student-led Eco-committee is now being used to promote the initiative throughout their community: One Cup System

“We are excited to be pioneering the new ONE Planet ONE Chance Reusable Cup System for our café – the first school in the UK to do so! The cups will have more than 300 uses, are insulated – keep hot drinks warm, yet cool to touch on the outside and are entirely reusable & recyclable. – Win, win! ”

Student-led Eco-committee, Wellington School