Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

SUSTAINABILITY | ENVIRONMENTALISM | NET ZERO School improvement advice for headteachers and SLT THIS WAY! How green is YOUR SCHOOL? Georgina Beard and Elena Lengthorn set out what schools can do to minimise their carbon footprint, and why there should be more encouragement for them to take the necessary steps... T here’s been another unprecedented, globally super-heated summer season! 2025 has seen the worst ever wildfire season in Europe. Drought conditions have been juxtaposed with flash floods caused by heavy downpours and thunderstorms, leading to wide- ranging consequences – fromheat- related deaths, to the majority of British farmers reporting high levels anxiety and depression in the face of adverse weather conditions. Children are, of course, carrying this burden too. AYouGov survey of 600 pupils aged under 12 found that over two thirds had experienced mental health symptoms in relation to their concern for the environment (see tinyurl.com/ts147-SU1) . Responsibilities and opportunities This summer also saw theWorld Health Organisation andWorldMeteorological Organisation publish guidance on workplace heat stress, sharing evidence of the growing challenges to physical and mental health and productivity presented by our warming world. Additionally, the DfE published a review entitled ‘Impact of UK climate change risk on the delivery of education’ (see tinyurl.com/ts147-SU2 ), which explored how climate change risk could impact upon education delivery and identified three key risks – flooding, water scarcity and overheating. Our education system is part of the problem. As educators, we have a responsibility and opportunity to mitigate and adapt what we do in response – so let’s start by considering what aspects of our schools’ operations are the most environmentally damaging. Unfortunately, however, when it comes to what schools do and the resources they require, there are few aspects that aren’t damaging. Some of the most obvious considerations include the transport methods students use to get to school, rising energy costs and outdated buildings, with schools increasingly exposed to flooding impacts and extreme heat days. Then there’s the issue of waste, with some 22kg of waste produced per year, per secondary pupil. According to the Schools Sustainability Guide, primary pupils clock up an even worse 45 Kg (see tinyurl.com/ta147-SU3) . Our schools therefore shoulder some responsibility for what’s happening – but can also seize the opportunity to do something about it. A‘nice to do’ Lack of available time and resources remains a challenge, of course. With so many competing issues placing a heavy burden on educators and education leaders, deciding where to allocate those resources is a tremendously difficult balancing act. In practice, The decision to do something often comes down to individual schools or staff members simply taking an interest. In 2015, 193 UNmember states, including the UK, signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals (see sdgs.un.org/goals) , Goal 4 of which cites ‘quality education’, stating that “ Education is the key that will allow many other SDGs to be achieved” . Eight years later, the DfE produced a ‘Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy’ for education (see tinyurl. com/ts147-SU4), and recently re- committed to the introduction of a new Natural History GCSE qualification. Yet while the DfE strategy does propose that schools take some adaptive actions, it stops short of pledging any additional funding, recommending that schools dedicate time to their implementation, and having the strategy’s progress be reviewed by Ofsted. As such, delivery of the DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy is broadly seen as a ‘Nice to do’, rather than an essential duty. For schools on a sustainability journey, the process of identifying practical actions is just the start. Before long, a much larger challenge emerges 45 teachwire.net/secondary L E A D E R S H I P