We carried out regular spot checks around the school, including monitoring lights and equipment during break times, lunchtimes, and after school. We also checked classroom temperatures, whether doors and windows were being left open during colder weather, and encouraged pupils and staff to dress appropriately for the season rather than increasing heating unnecessarily.
Overall, we have noticed a clear improvement in energy-saving habits across the school. More classrooms are ensuring lights, screens, and devices are switched off when not in use, and staff and pupils have become more aware of reducing unnecessary energy waste. The Eco-Warrior student groups have helped reinforce these positive habits through reminders and follow-up checks.
There are still a small number of areas where equipment is occasionally left on, particularly in shared spaces or rooms used by multiple groups throughout the day. In some cases, devices need to remain on for operational reasons, but where this is not necessary, reminders and further monitoring have been put in place.
When reviewing the data, we noticed a reduction in water, gas, and electricity consumption following our interventions. The charts comparing the weeks before and after the changes show an overall improvement, with the most significant reductions seen during the spring and summer terms when heating demand is naturally lower and awareness of energy-saving actions increased across the school.
Activity description
You've made some changes to your school's energy consumption. Now's the time to see the impact you've made.
There are several ways of doing this.
First if you carried out a spot check (e.g. lights and equipment at break times, lunchtime or after school, temperatures, whether people are wearing warm clothes or if doors and windows are open in cold weather), repeat this. What do you find? Is there an improvement overall? Are there some places where the energy saving message hasn't got through, or are there other reasons for those areas not to comply?
Next check the data.
Compare the chart for the week before your intervention with the chart for the week after. Is there a difference? Finally, if you set a target to reduce your energy consumption, review your progress. You can find a link to this on the Adult Dashboard.
Don't worry if you don't see any behavioural or data changes yet. Remind everyone about the energy saving message - you might want to do this through posters, displays, or assemblies. Then check again.
If you did see changes - then let everybody know about it too! Celebrate your hard work!
This is a good chance to review your action. What went well? What wasn't successful? Did you face any challenges? How did you overcome them? What would you do the same next time and what will you change?
Make checking a regular part of your Energy Team work so you can see straight away the impact you're making on your school's energy use and carbon emissions. Record this each time to gain points!
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