What is a Climate Action Plan?

In April 2022, the Department for Education published the sustainability and climate change strategy for education. It states that by 2025, all education settings should nominate a sustainability lead and have a climate action plan.

A climate action plan will help education settings undertake and educate about sustainability initiatives.

This climate action plan has been developed by the executive head, head of school, chair of governors and lead governor for sustainability.

Why do we want to act?

Our key goal is to prepare children for their futures and we want to make that future as positive as possible.

An understanding of, and respect for, the natural world has long been part of our 'Knights' Way’. Through outdoor learning and Forest School lessons, children learn about the environment around them. Our eco-team allows pupils to take ownership for initiatives such as recycling and improving biodiversity, as well as suggesting areas for improvement around the school site. Learning about our planet is part of curriculum topics, e.g. Oceans, Continents and the life of David Attenborough, natural disasters, polar regions and food and farming.

Given the scale and speed of the global climate crisis, its impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing, and the need to ensure children have the knowledge and skills for life in the 2030s, we must do more. Our climate action plan is fundamental to the overall school development plan and one of our strategic governance goals. It will be reviewed regularly and will help us consider environmental impact in our actions – whether smaller, everyday decisions or larger, long-term ones. Our behaviours will exemplify the value we place on sustainability and respect for the planet.

A school climate action plan is currently being developed with the support of Let's Go Zero and Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots.