THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Life lessons for sustainability Philippa Evans-Bevan visits Port Regis, a special place of learning that emphasises the natural environment and sustainability in its curriculum
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ort Regis School in rural Dorset celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. It is not only a beautiful example of inspiration and excellence in education, but its unique rural location with stunning grounds of 154 acres is a wonderful natural environment in which children can grow and flourish. It is the rural grace and potential of these surroundings, together with Port Regis’ buildings and facilities, which are taking centre stage in a pioneering policy and a culture of conservation that is being taken to a new level. The newly appointed headmaster, Titus Mills and his wife, Jemima, have embraced - and now contribute enthusiastically - to an ambitious sustainability policy initiated by science teacher James Hardy.
With their goal of becoming a ‘carbon neutral’ school by 2025, their targetdriven initiatives are part of the school curriculum. At the heart of this vision is responsibility and action. As James says ‘Port Regis has a moral responsibility - it needs not only to act to make a difference to the climate crisis, but also to educate our pupils to learn how to make a difference for their futures.’ Specifically, Port Regis aims to • become as sustainable as possible by 2025; • enthuse and educate the children to make sustainability a lifestyle choice; • involve the children in the processes involved;
• investigate greener energy; • make sensible material choices and to recycle and reuse as much as possible. The journey is well underway, although James explains that in order to activate all their plans, there needs to be both careful business planning and considerable funding. The whole school community from the youngest child to the longest serving member of staff seems to have been inspired and enthused by this passionate and professional team; already the key areas of change are transforming the school. Like any successful organisation, Port Regis has set in place strong and embracing structures to achieve such a revolutionary shift. An ‘Eco Code of Conduct’ is in place and ‘Eco Groups’, which include staff, children and parents, report to an ‘Eco Board’ and communicate ideas and progress on the key policy areas: biodiversity, energy solutions, dealing with waste, water use, the school environment, and sustainable living. There is much happening, from bees to bugs to wildflower meadows, rare breed sheep, tree planting, vegetable growing, invertebrates, rare bantams and rewilding. Rory Pope, head of grounds, is deeply involved too. ‘The breadth of species that call Port Regis home is incredible,’ he said. From bats to deer, ducks to buzzards, snowdrops to mighty oaks, you'll find them all here.’ Energy solutions are leaping forwards too. Long-term, the aim is for 100% of electricity to be solar powered and the adoption of renewable solutions for heating. Traditional lighting is being replaced with LED and where possible, auto lighting is also being installed. The state of the art teaching block ‘Upward’ uses a ground source heat pump and solar panels have been installed on two of the largest buildings. Water solutions have been investigated in many different ways. Recycling is paramount: composting and recycling food waste is carried out on site.
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