News: Governors urged to make their schools sustainable (June 2007)
Schools Minister Jim Knight has called on school governors to step up to the challenge of making schools sustainable.
A new governor’s guide and toolkit, launched by the Department for Education and Skills(DfES) as part of the Sustainable Schools initiative, shows governors how schools can take affordable and practical measures to become significantly more sustainable, providing pupils with a better environment in which to learn.
The toolkit provides governors with the guidance they need to embed sustainability into each of the core elements of school life – campus, curriculum and community. Materials include:
* A handbook: Strategic, challenging and accountable: A Governor’s Guide to Sustainable Schools * A 30 minute presentation with notes designed for governors to use as a starting point in their meetings * A two hour workshop outline with notes and handouts designed for experienced facilitators to use with governors and school leaders
The DfES hopes that governors will use the materials to widen their understanding of sustainability and to approach it in a strategic, challenging and accountable way. The handbook offers supporting information, practical examples and web links to help them get involved.
Schools account for 15% of public sector carbon emissions in the UK. Practical tips to reduce emissions include:
* Turning down the heating by just one degree can cut a school’s heating bill by 8% * Lighting makes up 25% of a school’s energy bill: * Slimmer tube lighting uses 8% less energy * Energy saving light bulbs last longer than regular bulbs and use up to 75% less energy
Schools Minister Jim Knight said:
“School governors are the unsung heroes of school life. They freely give up their time, energy and expertise to help our schools improve. It’s an exciting time to be a school governor, and schools need the freedom and flexibility to innovate so that they can come up with the ideas that really work for them. Governors help schools to answer the questions – what do we want this school to be, and how are we going to get there?
“This resource will help provide them with the information, inspiration and advice needed to make real and positive changes in order to embed sustainability into the heart of school life.”
Downloadable versions of the handbook, the presentation and the additional meeting and workshop notes are available from the Teachernetwebsite. Hard copies of the handbook are also available and can be ordered from the site.
