Towards sustainability in England’s primary schools

Posted: 1 July 2010

In 2008 4,087,790 pupils attended England’s 17,205 primary schools. By 2020 the government wants each and every one of those schools to have become ‘sustainable’, via the eight doorways to sustainability identified in its Sustainable Schools policy.

There are just 30 school terms left until summer 2020, 30 terms in which to embed sustainability into the fabric and the daily life of every school in Britain.

Heather Richardson is a MSc student at the University of Surrey. Heather is writing a dissertation that looks at a selection of English primary schools and seeks a snapshot of where they are in relation to the 2020 goal. What started them on their journey? How have they arrived at this point? What barriers have they overcome, and what others remain to be mastered? Are there differences in the ‘sustainable’ initiatives undertaken by schools with and without one or more of the recognition awards? Is there any difference in the amount of activity being done on each of the eight doorways?

If so, Heather will seek to uncover the reasons for this. Have the schools seen any changes that can be attributed to their moves towards sustainability? Heather will also look to compare findings with other relevant research to see if reasonable extrapolations can be made about sustainability in English primary schools.

To help with this initial data gathering, Heather is inviting head teachers, deputy heads, or individuals who have a sustainability role within a primary school in England, to complete the following survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DDHPGYV

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.