Sustainability Goals

After a series of consultations from the pupils, parents, staff and governors the WGGS sustainability goals were established. These goals are the targets for the next 7 years and form the basis for all sustainable activities at WGGS.

 

 

 

The goals are:

  • To recycle 100% of all recyclable material by 2030.
  • To reduce our energy consumption by 5% per year until 2030.
  • To become carbon neutral and offset all our carbon emissions by 2030.
  • To reduce our paper consumption by 70% by 2030.
  • To develop our own sources of renewable energy by 2030.
  • To remove all single use plastic from the school and use only recycled/reusable plastic by 2030.
  • To ensure all materials bought by the school are carbon neutral and recyclable by 203

Eco-Champions

The schools first set of Eco-Champions were nominated by forms last school year with two meetings taking place and the duties established. Each Eco-Champion was given a Green Badge to help identify them and a set of duties to put inside the lanyard. These mainly consisted of ensuring lights were switched off when not needed. Reminding teachers to switch of projectors. The Eco-Champions were also involved in establishing the WGGS Sustainability Goals and this consultancy role is something to be developed going forward.

If you have any ideas for moving our school forward to a greener future please contact Mrs Brummerstadt.

  • Action Plan Review 2022-23

    Three targets were established last year for the first sustainability action plan.

    Target 1 – To complete a sustainability in the curriculum audit and map the results.
    This was completed in the summer of 2022. The results have been shared with SLT and the Curriculum committee. The plan is to now use this to fill in gaps so that all subjects have at least one element of environmental/sustainability education within their curriculums.

    Target 2 – To educate the whole school community about the concept of sustainability.
    This was completed over the school year. Assemblies were delivered to all pupils promoting the idea of sustainability. Staff were briefed on the concept in Tuesday briefings. A school survey was sent out to gauge prior understanding. There was some residual knowledge of the idea, but this has been developed over the year. There has been a clear culture shift and change in mindset regarding sustainability in the school and the lowering of energy consumption and paper use shows people are taking it seriously. Some areas such as running a session for local primary school teachers to support their subject knowledge have been rolled over into 2023-2024. The creation of the Eco-Champions further in beds the concept of living more sustainably. We also ran a climate change and sustainability awareness week in conjunction with the HGT Team.

    Target 3 – To reduce our energy consumption by 10%.
    This target was achieved. Electricity consumption was down 13% and gas consumption was down 18% on 2021-2022. This is a big achievement and saved around £50,000. This was achieved through the Switch It Off awareness campaign amongst the staff and pupils. Through promoting SLaP amongst the teachers and through regular updates on our progress to all stakeholders. A new tracking system has been established which allows for easy comparisons to be made between years and areas of energy consumption. An area to develop would be to visit other schools and see what they are doing to reduce energy consumption.

  • Additional Successes

    • The uniform supplies were questioned on the sustainability and ethical sourcing of the new uniform and this information is going to be shared with the school.
    • A sustainability statement was created.
    • The Spring Clean Litter pick took place and was attended by Tony Rindel, Sylvia Tai and Dean Russell the local MP.
    •  Three A Level students met with Alok Sharma at the house of parliament. Alok Sharma is the minister for climate change.
    • LED Lights have been installed throughout the school further reducing the demand for power.
    • EON Next provides electricity to 3/4 electricity meters. All electricity provided by EON Next comes from renewable sources. British Gas provides the other and they are committed to offsetting their electricity and source a large amount from renewables also. 6/8 suppliers of Gas are also EON Next who carbon offset their gas supplies. The Pool and Main Building are supplied by Crown Gas who do not offset. This is an area to work on for next year.
    • Window upgrades in the Main Building.
    • A Terracycling scheme for pens has been set up by Niraj Shah and is popular given the number of Pens in the collection boxes.
    • Electric Gardening Equipment is now being used by the site team moving away from petrol power.
    • The roof has been repaired extending the life a little further and making it more insulated and leak free. Snow guards have been added to the roof to protect staff from falling tiles.
    • Innovate are committed to lowering their environmental food print and in a similar vein to using Eon.Next as an energy supplier. We have seen changes in school such as the removal of single use plastic cutlery and less plastic packaging. Their website says: “We operate a sustainable and responsible business model, minimising packaging (especially plastics), food waste and energy consumption, whilst maximising recycling and composting”.
    • Most staff from across the school have made sustainability pledges that are displayed outside the Headteachers office.

  • Focus for 2023-24

    The goal of the sustainability drive at WGGS is to become carbon neutral by 2030. To achieve this target the school needs to become as sustainable as it can. The WGGS Sustainability Goals establish the aims and from them yearly targets will be drawn down. The targets for 2023-2024 are:
    • All stakeholders will know and understand what sustainability is and what the WGGS Sustainability goals are.
    • Energy consumption will be reduced by a further 5% on last year’s level.
    • Paper consumption will be reduced by 10% based on 2022-2023 levels by the end of this academic school year.
    • Develop the role of Eco-Champions from within the student and staff body.
    • To reduce the number of vehicles on Lady’s Close between 8.00-9.00am and 3.00-4.00pm.
    • Develop a school sustainability statement and policy.
    • Address gaps in the curriculum where no teaching around sustainability takes place

    We will aim to achieve these targets through the following methods:
    1. Assemblies will be delivered, and the goals will be promoted on the school website, community newsletter and staff meetings. A new web page will be set up for Sustainability and will be regularly updated.
    2. AN will promote the need to switch lights and devices off when not in use through promotional videos etc. We will discuss when to turn on the heating leaving it as late as possible. AN to continue to track energy consumption and intervene when needed.
    3. All staff at WGGS have been made aware of printing and paper use and AN has set up trackers to monitor the consumption of paper. Staff will be told termly of the amount they have consumed. Changes have been already made in Repro.
    4. Eco-Champions will be nominated from within each form and regular meetings will take place with a particular focus for the term. A SEG group will be created from within the Staff to look at being sustainable around the school.
    5. A car count will be taken by the Eco-Committee on random days and posters will be created and sent home to parents to persuade them to drive less or avoid Lady’s Close.
    6. A draft statement has been put together, but this needs adapting. The SEG group will work on a new statement and a policy will be developed to outline formally our aims as a school.
    7. AN and KC ask line managers to discuss with HODs when they feel they could do to promote a greener approach to the curriculum either through making changes to resource use or emphasising sustainability within teaching.

Sustainability Policy