Carry out a spot check to see if lights or electrical items are left on after school

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College, Thursday, 20 November 2025
10 points 18 pupils Detective KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4

We carried out our audit after school on a Thursday. Some rooms were still being used but lots were empty.
We sent a group to each block to survey the rooms using the survey form.
We learnt that some staff don't turn off their projectors. Some don't know how to turn off the projectors so we need to talk to IT and teach them.
A lot of staff are turning off the projectors though which is good.
Lots of corridor lights were still on.
The pastoral bases still had lights on so we need to advise them to turn the lights off.
We got lots of positive feedback from staff who were happy that we were doing the survey. We left notes / spoke to staff to give them feedback. They liked getting positive praise!
The art rooms still had lots of power being used so we need to educate those staff.
The computer rooms still had the student computers on. We need to check if IT are still shutting them down at 4pm.
Our next steps: talk to IT, talk to staff in staff briefing, continue to praise staff doing the right thing and make posters to go in classrooms. Posters will be printed on tuff paper so they are eco friendly. They will advise people to turn off the lights and projector.

Activity description

This is the perfect task for a group of children who enjoy being 'detectives' and checking to see which classes are remembering to turn lights, boards and monitors off at the end of the school day. Don't forget to check other areas of the school, such as your school hall, toilets, offices, corridors, library, kitchen or resource  rooms. Download our simple recording sheet, or design your own.

Download a poster to remind people to switch things off or to say goodbye to standby or design your own (we'd love to see it!)

Pupils might like to leave feedback for each class / room they visit, praising the occupants for energy-efficient behaviour (e.g. 'Well done for switching your whiteboard off!') or reminding them of the school's aims to save energy (e.g. 'Please switch off your lights when you go home to save our school energy and money.'). To save time,  agree some standard feedback comments and photocopy them, so that children do not need to spend time writing their feedback in each room. Some schools develop a traffic light system, leaving laminated coloured discs or light bulbs in each classroom. Discuss the best approach with your team of detectives - they are sure to have good ideas!

Don't forget to share the results of your detective work with the rest of the school, focusing on the positives as well as highlighting the potential for saving more energy. You'll find 'Well done class 5 for switching everything off! If they can do it, we can all do it!' is more motivating than naming and shaming those who have forgotten. 

Keep a record of what you find on each spot check, so that you can see if things are improving. And how about creating charts using your spot check data as part of maths lessons?

An after-school spot check is an activity that can be repeated regularly - don't forget to enter it as a new activity and earn more Energy Sparks points each time you carry one out!

If classrooms are regularly occupied by teachers or after school clubs at the end of the school day, you will need to discuss with your teachers the best time and way to check lights and IT are switched off.

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