Find out how some schools are promoting and developing a successful sustainable school.
Sustainability is high on everyone’s agenda. It is in every aspect of our lives and is demanding that we change our lifestyles and habits to ensure that we take the very best care of our planet for ourselves and for future generations.
Schools have an important part to play in this if we are to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and understanding for sustainable living.
Sustainability has a broad interpretation and for schools it includes environmental, social, economic and governance aspects of their work.
This resource was designed with school leadership teams in mind. The eight doorways are based on the DCSF’s Sustainable Schools National Framework. The doorways are designed to help you audit your current position and provide ideas to help your school operate in a more sustainable way. You may choose to look at just one doorway initially or start on several at the same time. Usually, all the doorways impact on each other.
Click on the doorways for information about each area of sustainability and case studies of sutainable schools.
A paper copy of the Valuing our future toolkit is available to order at £15.
Research shows that sustainable schools show particular styles of leadership. Find out more about the leadership themes of our case study schools.
In the document Sustainable Schools for Pupils, Communities and the Environment the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) describes a sustainable school as one that ‘is guided by the principle of care: care for oneself, care for each other and care for the environment’. This central principle of care is not new to schools but it is the addition of the reference to care for the environment that moves a school from being a good school to a sustainable school.
NCSL is committed to helping school leaders develop sustainability through the following activities:
