Sustainability and Climate Change

Sustainability and climate change learning is embedded into our practice and ethos at Ethelbert Road. To further strengthen our practice we are evaluating our what we do in line with DfE guidance and have prepared a new action plan which reflects this strategy.

The DfE’s strategy to improve sustainability and its response to climate change by 2030 sets out 4 main aims: 

• Climate education: preparing pupils for a world impacted by climate change through learning and practical experience

• Net zero: reducing emissions from education buildings and providing opportunities for pupils to get involved in the transition to net zero 

• Resilience: adapting school buildings and systems to prepare for the effects of climate change 

• A better environment for future generations: enhancing biodiversity, improving air quality and increasing access to (and connection with) nature in and around schools 

At Ethelbert Road, we pride ourselves on our forward thinking approach to environmentally driven education and community engagement. We believe the journey to that goal of sustainability begins with educating our children in a nurturing and sustainable environment, which is both engaging and enjoyable.

Our intent is for children to learn about how as humans, our past and current actions has a lasting impact upon the world around us. We want children to recognise the impact they can have to saving the environment, habitats, living things and more, in the future. Each year group will learn about their responsibility to care and make reasonable changes to their life-style to become sustainable. Children will be encouraged to know their voice has an impact and take action within the community to share their knowledge and passion of sustainable living. 

Sustainability for our Future 
We are very proud to share that UNESCO has placed an article on their website about the work our Year 6 children have been doing on sustainable engineering.

Please use the link below to read the article that they have written about us.

https://unesco.org.uk/exploring-sustainable-engineering-and-the-sdgs-with-uk-primary-school-students/ 

Big STEM Challenge 

Our Year 6 pupils won a place in the finals of the Big Stem Challenge. Year 5 representatives attended the finals and presented the coding work they had undertaken to promote sustainability. 

Sustainability in Our Community 

We are proud to have links with organisations and artists who promote sustainability. We believe it is important for our children to look after our community, as well as our world. 

Local Artist Jason deClaire

Our school has joined together with local and world renowned sculpture Jason deClaire to work on a cross curricular sustainability project in 2024/2025. 
 

Jason is an award winning sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer who is best known for his underwater sculptures which attract coral. Jason also produces thought provoking sculptures linked to sustainability and climate change.

Our project started with Jason visiting our Year 2 class to discuss how he produces his sculptures. The class enjoyed a sculpture workshop where they had their hands made into amazing art pieces.

The next phase of our project involved our art leaders visiting Jason’s workshop. They discussed their school project and how Jason could support. The art leaders were blown away by the brilliant sculptures Jason had produced using local people and the strong environmental messages behind them.
 

For our project the school will be using Jason’s local anti sewage sculpture as inspiration for their project. The school will learn about Jason’s artwork and find out more about him as a local artist. A class will have the opportunity to visit his studio, see his anti sewage sculpture, go beach combing for rubbish, design, make and display their own group sculpture. Through art we hope to deliver a strong environment message. 
 

Wildwood Trust

We are lucky to have links with Wildwood Trust. Their mission is to protect, conserve, and rewild British wildlife.

Throughout the year some of our classes visit Wildwood to attend workshops linked to their topics. They children learn about sustainability and conservation. 

Reducing Emissions

Our school is working towards reducing emissions. We work closely with the council to inform parents of the impact of keeping their engines running whilst dropping off children and collecting. The school street has ‘anti idling’ signs and the school reminds parents of their responsibility to reduce carbon emissions through newsletters and face to face conversations. 

We educate our children through assemblies, encourage families to walk to school, provide a secure bike and scooter park and run bikeability sessions for our older children so they are confident and safe on the roads. 

Sustainable Clothing

The Friends of Ethelbert Road support families with pre loved uniform and fancy dress costumes. They have a wide range of uniform and fancy dress clothes that are available to families during the school year. Families can contact the office with uniform requests, and The Friend if Ethelbert Road provide what is needed. 
 

The Friend of Ethelbert attend New Parents evenings, Stay and Play induction session and different events during the year to promote sustainable clothing. They also link in with the Faversham Community Wardrobe to ensure pre loved uniform is accessible to all.

The Friend of Ethelbert Road collect pre loved costumes before any event to ensure fancy dress costumes are shared and available. This keeps clothing sustainable and reduces costs to parents. 

Our School Garden

We are very proud of our school garden and both children and staff enjoy spending time there. We learn how to grow fruits and vegetables and use these in our cooking. We have a wildlife area with wild flowers to attract insects and birds.