From strategy to action
What does the DfE's Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy mean for schools and colleges? We talk to one Sixth Form College about it.
It seems to us that there is little lack of thought leadership – and the competition for it amongst the great, the learned and the merely good – around sustainability. From the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) at the very top of the global policy tree (or the very roots, should we wish to view it that way round), through the multiplicity of papers, books and other pamphlets we attempt to keep track of through our monthly reports roundups, to the rafts of ‘winning’ strategies designed to negotiate their owners in government, business or other elements of society through or around the various policies, movements and pressures of the day.
Where we’ve experienced the odd (!) tumbleweed moment, though, is in the translation of leadership of the thought persuasion, to action on the ground. Which is why we set one of our Green Edge themes for 2024 as being place-based action leadership. In other words, people cracking on and getting something done about the sustainability of their corners of the world, perhaps supported by policies and strategies – but then again, perhaps not.
We’ve often thought – perhaps a little sceptically – that the Department for Education’s (DfE) Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy may experience the occasional dry, dusty wind blowing through one or two of its 24,000 or so English schools. Published in April 2022 with ‘action areas’ consisting of building climate education, developing ‘green’ skills for future ‘green’ careers, establishing a sustainable education estate (that’s playgrounds and stuff like that), and teaching by example with its own future sustainable operations and supply chain, we do see indications that DfE hasn’t totally forgotten about it in the governmental hoo-ha since then. Its progress update in December 2023 told us its target is for all education settings to have a sustainability lead and a climate action plan in place by 2025. It’s also launched the National Education Park and is expanding the Climate Ambassador scheme. Oh, and it’s appointed two Youth Focal Points (they’re people, by the way) to provide it with voice-of-customer advice from young people – one of whom attended COP 28 on its behalf. All good stuff, although we suspect the nub of it all for individual schools might be found in one of the conclusions from last summer’s value-for-money report from the National Audit Office (NAO):
Given the uncertainty around the additional funding that is likely to be available, it is important that DfE works with the sector to share evidence for what works, to encourage schools to use their capital and maintenance funds to make improvements in a way that also supports government’s sustainability objectives.
Source: NAO.
Hills Road Sixth Form College (HRSFC) offers A levels to more than 2,800 students around the Cambridge area. In an area of demographic growth, a number of the College’s larger departments – Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Psychology – almost look like schools in their own right. And, according to Chris Graham, head of HRSFC’s Biology department, “Given our size, we can cope with offering relatively low uptake subjects and still get full classes”.
Alongside leading a department with some 400 students per year group, Chris is HRSFC’s Sustainability Lead. A tick in the box for DfE having one here, at least. But we quickly learn that Chris and the College are not just ticking boxes, but are taking it seriously. So much so, that Chris has published what we might at least see as his personal manifesto in a recent volume of the Journal of Biological Education (for those of our readers who tend not to click through from our links, you might like to click this one – it’s short, snappy and salient). He backs that up right at the start of our chat: “I didn't think we could legitimately push sustainability in our education if we weren't doing what we said we were going to do. We need to be an authentic voice and I believe it's urgent. I don't want to put all the responsibility onto my students and say I'm going to teach you all about sustainability, then you go and solve it. That'll be too late. We want to crack on and start the journey with our own decarbonisation”.
For HRSFC, that journey started around the end of 2020 when Chris was approached to chair a new Environment committee. To avoid confusion with use of the E-word (learning environment vs the environment), this quickly became the Sustainability Committee and, with Chris in the chair, they started looking to see where and how the College could decarbonise. Targets were set, of course, but not to be unrealistically ambitious: reduction of the College’s carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050 seemed right. As Chris explains, “We followed the government's targets because quite a lot of it is out of our direct control and so we thought it wasn't really feasible to go faster”.
One of the big early decisions was to stop using air travel for school trips. That probably came up with a bit of resistance, we thought, given the opportunities for exchanges and cultural trips these days. Chris confirms that it took some selling, but goes on to describe some of the adjustments that have been made, including the use of ferries for Spanish exchanges and a switch from a French exchange partner school in the south to one in Paris to facilitate train travel. So, yes, a hard decision, but as Chris says, “There are some great opportunities for students at a distance, but could we hand on heart really say we were making the most of local opportunities? It's good to go and explore new cultures a long way away, but there’s a lot of growth and wonderful learning opportunities much more local”.
As with any initiative which changes the business-as-usual – sustainability or otherwise – executive support is essential. And this came through the Principal, who took on the no-flights argument and continues to support the sustainability drive through to the point where sustainability is having its own dedicated section within the College’s new strategic plan. On the way to another tick in DfE’s box for a climate action plan for this establishment by 2025.
So, what’s been happening so far? Chris explains that the three biggest considerations in putting together the College’s carbon footprint were electricity and gas use, together with the commuting of its staff and students. The low-hanging fruit was to switch to a renewable energy supplier, which has been done. But the logical progression from that – presumably for every school – is to leverage its estate to make its own electricity. Chris tells us that the College already has a decent solar array, but most of the panels have been up for many years and had run into disrepair. So, they’ve had a bit of work done and are now in the process of trying to capture exactly how much they're producing – a little tricky, since some panels have feed-in tariffs which can be tracked while others are off-grid for the College’s own use. Once the College cracks that one, though, there’s something to show the students!
The next thing is the gas. Two of the College’s nine or so plant rooms now run air source heat pumps and the plan is for all new developments to do likewise. But this isn’t mandatory: it’s the College’s choice and, while there may be funding to bridge the difference between the cost of new gas boilers when they’re needed and heat pumps, it’s not a requirement. Nonetheless, a third-party helped them access funding to build the decarbonisation plan, which would completely convert it to air source heat pumps. The plan is now sitting, waiting for funding to get the job done.
Image: Alexander-Dennis
The College’s largest emitter, though, is commuting. Staff and students coming in from Cambridge and the surrounding district notches up the bus and car miles and, while the team is keen to get the carbon content out as much as possible, it’s not such an easy problem to solve. Via Stagecoach, Cambridge is rolling out electric buses and the College has had discussions with the Council about sustainable transport options, but it’s going to take a bit of creative thinking and doing to get to a solution. And the problem with that is that it takes time.
There’s the rub. With one session per week allocated away from the day job to do the sustainability stuff, most of the things Chris told us about concerning his part in all this has fallen into the ‘above and beyond’ category. Not that he was complaining, mind you, but we mention it here because we suspect many if not most people in similar roles across the DfE’s domain fall into the same classification. In Chris’ case, this allocation is increasing and he’s also sitting in on the College’s strategic planning meetings. One of the discussion points is the extent to which everything in the strategic plan is in some way related to sustainability. That’s a good thing, right? Well, yes, but “the danger with that is that every strategic item gets related to sustainability, but then it never gets prioritised within each item. Everyone feels it's important, but it never quite reaches top priority because exams have to happen and the students have to be taught and so on”, says Chris.
On the positive side, though, we can see how Chris is following his written words that:
We cannot recommend others take action without doing it ourselves, nor can we encourage action and develop the necessary skills and passion in our students if we are not living the reality we want them to engage with: they are experts at smelling hypocrisy.
Source: Journal of Biological Education
So, how is this flowing through into the teaching activities at HRSFC? Well, from this academic year the College has started to offer A level Environmental Science, and the uptake has been bigger than anticipated. And, since the standard College programme is 3 A Levels and an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), there’s the opportunity in the EPQ to choose sustainability-related projects. Alongside the curriculum, each tutor group has an environment rep, the College has an Eco week at the end of April, and there’s a student-led Environment Society.
But there’s scope for much more, on paper at least. Chris says, “I'm speculating quite a lot now, but in the future, I'd love to see our expectation for the offer for students to be your choice of three A levels plus half an A level in a sustainability qualification. I think that would in some respects be better than weaving sustainability into every subject, where it might get lost a bit. But I believe everyone can enhance their future prospects by having training in sustainability. No matter what they want to go into in the future, a grounding in sustainability is brilliant for the future of humanity, and also brilliant for their career prospects.
“So that's what I would really like to see. We're a little way off, but we’re currently exploring options”.
Image: Hills Road Sixth Form College
In the curriculum as well as the decarbonisation work going on in the College, there is still work to do. Chris tells us he did his best to get into the procurement side of things and the supply chain. That’s going to take time: beyond a baseline study there’s probably hundreds of hours of work to properly analyse anything beyond the fundamental scope 1 and 2 emissions for any school or college. We know from our own experience that the exams process and its resources is a big emitter, and even Ofqual has twigged that one. Then there’s catering, which for HRSFC was outsourced but has just been brought in house to give the College more control over its food-related sustainability decisions. And that, of course, includes a closer look at its waste streams.
So, a work in progress. But, despite Chris’ opening statement to us that he wasn’t purporting to be an expert or even a front runner in sustainability among England’s educational establishments, we can appreciate the work done, the personal upskilling that has been required, and the commitment to the cause.
Outside the work in the College itself, any immediate next steps? Two things, according to Chris:
“One is about communication and making links, because that's not what I've been particularly focusing on. It's partly why I wrote my article for the Journal of Biological Education. We need everyone to do it. I'm aware that there are some people more advanced than we are, which is great. But as a sector as a whole, I'm not sure we're making vast progress.
“The other thing is to push for changes at a higher level. It’s at DfE level that the big changes will be made to happen. We need to be a barking dog, saying we really need this and there is great value in it. The DfE’s Sustainability Strategy is an indication that it is valued, but more action needs to come from that value, I think”.
We agree, Chris. Good luck and we hope this post adds to the voice.
Our thanks to Chris Graham and HRSFC for talking to the Green Edge for this post. Green Edge opinions given do not necessarily concide with those of Chris or HRSFC.