A BOROUGH school is celebrating all things sustainable at an eco event that will bring together the whole school community.
Holme Grange School is committed to sustainability.
It is celebrating all things eco at a Sustainability Festival this month.
Leanne Hughes, head of design technology, is the school’s sustainability lead.
She said: “We’re very aware of everything we do in terms of our carbon footprint, including our supply chains.
“We teach sustainability as part of our curriculum – we call it our climate bravery course.
“We want it to become second nature to our students, and for them to be responsible global citizens.
“We give them the scientific facts, but we do also make sure to end each lesson with a story of hope, because it can be quite a big, gloomy subject.”
In class, pupils discuss climate problems, such as drought in Africa, before going on to explore solutions, like irrigation systems.
“We want our pupils to see what people are doing to make things better in the world, continued Leanne.
“In the same way, we look carefully at what we are doing in the school, asking ourselves, ‘Where can we encourage more biodiversity?’ and ‘how can we encourage people not to waste their lunch?’ – it’s an ongoing campaign.”
The school’s sustainability strategy means all staff members, including the kitchen team, have received sustainability training.
A parent committee group also helps Leanne to push sustainability projects forward.
“Our headteacher, Mrs Robinson, is very supportive,” she said.
“Sustainability feeds into our curriculum all the way through the school years, right up to key stage 3.
“Younger classes enjoy earning climate badges, and every year we do a mock COP event, modelled on the actual meetings.
“This year we invited other schools to take part for the first time.
“We had students from year 7 pupils right up to 6th Formers, representing the different countries, and all arguing for the support and resources they need – it’s really educational.”
In the canteen, students weigh their food waste.
“We want to be able to show students, with a bit of humour, what is actually being thrown away,” explained Leanne.
“One of our pupils is also collecting data on whether people enjoy their lunch, and how that relates to waste, so that we can look at menus and change things if necessary.”
Holme Grange is part of the Berkshire Schools Eco Network, which is part of a nationwide movement.
Students get together, mostly online, to discuss issues and what they are doing to solve them, sharing particularly successful projects.
“We’re all having similar issues, and learning from each other,” she said.
“Food waste often comes up, with different schools trialling various ways to tackle it.
“One school, rather than going fully vegan to highlight sustainability issues around food, instead created a ‘sustainable plate’.
“Students are told the percentages of carbon dioxide and seasonable availability of each item, helping them to decide how sustainable they want to be with the food on their plate.”
The school keen to make sure that everything at their eco event is locally sourced where possible.
“We’ve invited a local butcher to come along and make burgers from pulled pork,” said Leanne.
“He’s going to explain that if you do eat meat, you need to eat the whole animal, not just some of it.
“And Peter Gray will also be coming.
“Students will pick strawberries at his Wokingham Grays Farm farm for strawberries and cream.”
Freely Fruity, Maya’s Refillables, Wokingham In Bloom, and Resh Thorpe one of the borough’s climate emergency officers will contribute, while the school’s bus shelters will house art exhibitions, and a visiting tree expert will help students improve the school’s green areas.
“We’ve got an upcycled fashion show, drama sketches, our rock bands will be playing on a solar powered stage, and our year 5 students are writing an activist song,” she continued.
“Wellington College is collaborating with us, and helping to fund the event.
“It’s going to be fantastic, with a great festival vibe – we’re all so excited.
“At this stage it is only for the school community, but we hope that in future years we may be able to open it up to a wider audience.
“We hope that each person can take away from the day one thing they can do for the environment.”
The Sustainability Festival will take place at Holme Grange School, on Thursday, June 20.
For information, visit: www.holmegrange.org
