Pupils meet with the headteacher and school governors to create an energy policy

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Tuesday, 14 January 2025
10 Communicator KS1, KS2, KS3

What you did

We presented our energy findings to SLT to raise ways in which we can reduce our electricity. The head teacher asked us to provide the financial data related to this, and we discussed keeping coats on in classrooms and closing windows. 

Activity description

Once you've analysed your school's energy use, had a look at our case studies and perhaps demonstrated that your actions can help reduce the school's energy use and carbon emissions, you may want to sit down with your Headteacher and Sustainability Governor/ Chair of Governors to create an Energy Policy.   When things are written down, they get done!

Things to consider when writing a school energy policy:

  1. Who has responsibility for energy?
  2. How will progress be monitored?
  3. How will progress  be communicated to everyone in the school?
  4. Is your school willing to invest staff time  and money in energy saving?
  5. How will the energy policy link to other school policies such as procurement (buying) or the school development plan?

Ideas you could include in your school energy policy:

  1. Create an Energy Team involving pupils, staff and governors to ensure that the actions decided upon are carried out. 
  2. Set a target for your energy reduction through the Energy Sparks adult dashboard.
  3. Regularly monitor and evaluate your energy use so that you know what's normal for you school and can identify any surges in consumption that may be due to problems. 
  4. Create an Action Plan and ensure the whole school understands it and is aware of the actions, including their individual responsibilities. 
  5. Monitor energy use and progress against the targets in your Action Plan.
  6. Communicate regularly with the whole school community, informing them of progress made and ways to improve further. 

Consider arranging an Energy Sparks virtual audit to help you develop your Action Plan. Our auditor will support your staff, pupils and governors to identify the easy energy saving wins for your school.  Book on here.


All activities