by Jane Wallace-Jones, Teacher of Geography and Sustainability Lead.

Young people today face huge challenges: a cost-of-living crisis, climate anxiety, pressure to succeed in high-stakes exams and the after-effects of covid. The pupils at George Abbot are facing these challenges head-on through a series of exciting initiatives to improve sustainability in their school and wider community.

With the support of the school leadership team, who have committed to putting sustainability at the heart of their financial decisions, the curriculum, enrichment activities and pastoral care, the pupils are driving positive change which empowers them and has huge benefits for the whole community. Through this work, the pupils are seeing first-hand how the choices they make about how they consume resources, both at home and at school, can alleviate wider social, economic and environmental problems such as poverty, inequality and biodiversity loss.

Steering a school community with 2,000 pupils on a path towards sustainability takes patience and commitment.

We began by creating a new position for a staff sustainability lead, plus two sixth-form sustainability ambassador roles. Together, this group co-created a school sustainability policy which was approved by the governors. This was helped by the invaluable support of the school leadership team and the school premises, finance and business teams.

In the first year, the students in our newly-formed ‘sustainability club’ developed a series of diverse initiatives, such as encouraging reusable water bottles, organising indoor recycling, fundraising for school water fountains, organising second-hand clothes sales and vegan bake sales, and more.

In our second year, we identified one initiative for the school to focus on, whilst allowing smaller initiatives to blossom. This led to an exciting partnership with Surrey Wildlife Trust to enhance biodiversity and enrich outdoor spaces at the school.

We are very proud that together, the sustainability team, all of Year 9, and Surrey Wildlife Trust planted 220 metres of mixed hedging, 20 fruit trees, pollinator plant areas, wildflower beds and an outdoor learning space. We are also thrilled that Surrey Wildlife Trust will continue to support our biodiversity work for the next two years.

In addition, we launched a 'sustainability enrichment' option for sixth-form pupils, enabling them to focus on improving sustainability practices across our school, a challenge which they found both empowering and confidence-building. Other support has come from us being a member of SEAS (Surrey Environmental Action Schools) and Zero Carbon Guildford, where groups of dedicated sixth-formers have also taken part in workshops on doughnut economics and climate change.

My advice to all schools is to start small.

Focus on one tangible project which will clearly demonstrate the school’s commitment to sustainability. This will show you the support and expertise you need, and how to harness the existing skills in your school community. Partnerships are also critical to schools developing their sustainability, whether through joining networks with other schools to share best practice, or partnering with external organisations that will help you learn and grow.

Our journey has been exciting, and although slow at times, it has been immensely rewarding to witness the pride that our sustainability champions have in their achievements, and seeing sustainability become normalised amongst both staff and pupils. This has led us to now apply for the Eco–Schools Green Flag award, which we hope will recognise our progress.