Environmental Sustainability Strategy Plan

PROJECT EVER GREEN

Environmental Sustainability Strategy Plan

Central to our drive to become a more environmentally sustainable community is our recognition of the importance of student voice; students who will be playing active roles in their communities once they leave school.

Our students have enquiring minds and are passionate about global issues, understanding the urgency of the climate crisis. In common with young people across the globe, they are rightly demanding of change. They are creative problem solvers, inspired by and inspiring innovation in our community. In fostering their engagement and developing an understanding of individual and collective responsibility, we will empower our students as they help to shape the future of our school. Just as importantly, we will ensure that as a Senior Management Team we are making choices at an operational level that align with our vision of sustainability.

IntroductionOver the past two years, discussion and action on equality, diversity and inclusion have been at the forefront of our minds. We aspire to a holistic approach where we recognise that these two pressing issues of our time – building inclusive communities and climate emergency – are intertwined.

“We aim for every girl to leave us prepared to shape the society in which she lives and works.”

The powerful quotation from bell hooks shows us this relationship, and we have chosen it for the emphasis it places on the importance of care and community in our approach to sustainability. In the chapter of belonging from which these words are taken, hooks discusses the way in which Black people in the USA became disconnected from the land and an agrarian past, and the need to heal by “reclaim[ing] a spiritual legacy where we connect our well-being to the well-being of the earth.” The connection between our well-being as humans, and the well-being of the planet is also made by Thoughtbox, the organisation the Junior School are working with on their Think & Thrive curriculum. If, globally, we cannot limit temperature rises to 1.5C, rising sea levels and climate change will force

bell hooks, belonging

millions to leave their land, suffering the disconnection and sorrow discussed by bell hooks; and recent UN research shows that in a climate crisis, women and girls suffer greater challenges to their safety and security. Our care for the earth, and our care for our fellow humans are one and the same. However, we also know, from recent research by the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (of which we are a member) that educating girls is a force for good in tackling climate change, with raised awareness and STEM subject study, and women who attended girls’ schools being more likely to be politically active and become involved in environmental and volunteer programmes. Through our core mission of educating every

girl to be prepared to shape the society in which she lives and works and in striving to build an inclusive community, we can fight climate change just as surely as with reduced energy consumption and careful use of resources. We are at the beginning of our journey to net zero and are in no doubt that there is much to do. The school’s strategy will develop over time. We will flex and adapt as progress is made and other priorities emerge, but this document is a statement of our intent to put sustainability at the heart of school life.

Eco Steering Group Wimbledon High School September 2022

“When we love the Earth, we are able to love ourselves more fully.”

Our Ambition

Timeframe for action and measuring progress

Mindful of the human, social and economic aspects of the priorities above, we have identified key targets for action under three broad timeframes:

with immediate effect

by Summer 2023

by Summer 2030, as the school heads towards its 150th birthday

This document offers a high-level overview of our ongoing strategic work in this area.

The following ten sections – one for each strategic priority - set out

• our vision and ambition for each priority

• a summary of actions already undertaken, and projects underway

• a summary of some of our next actions

• an awareness of the challenges we face in each area of focus

This document is underpinned by a detailed internal strategic tracker for all our sustainability projects. Of course, this summary is not exhaustive, so if you would like to know more about any particular area of our work, do get in touch.

As a community at Wimbledon High School, we will work towards achieving carbon net zero before the GDST’s target date of 2050 by focusing on these ten strategic priorities:

Organisational structures for delivering change

Our Eco Steering Group comprises colleagues from the leadership team alongside staff and student representatives, each bringing expertise in their areas of responsibility. Members of the committee have taken responsibility for strategic aims and report back on progress.

Our Student Eco Committee is a

Senior School group which is led by the Environmental Sustainability Co-ordinator and the Student Leader for Community & Sustainability.

Elected Eco Reps from classes across the Junior School meet together each week to lead on our Junior School strategies to support and promote climate education, sustainability and eco-aware approaches to looking after our local community.

We will use existing organisational structures to meet goals within each strategic priority, to ensure that we embed our sustainability ambitions into the life of the school. We hope that this holistic and collaborative approach will ensure that we can deliver on our ambition to embed sustainable approaches into every aspect of our school life.

Collective and individual responsibility

We recognise that change at a macro level – in government policy, industrial strategy, and global co-operation – will have the greatest impact on climate change. However, actions and behaviour at a personal and organisational level have value: in raising awareness, empowering us as consumers and in reducing our own carbon footprint.

The Senior Leadership Team is committed to embedding the sustainability strategy across all areas of school life. The Director of Finance & Operations works closely with the Eco Committee Leads in the Senior and Junior Schools, the Deputy Head Pastoral and Head of Juniors.

We have the support and guidance of our School Governor, Lisa Waters, and of the Head of Sustainability and Infrastructure at GDST, Sarra Pardali.

Staff

All staff have responsibility for embracing a more sustainable approach in their everyday working life, taking action to ensure that collectively we make progress towards our goals. Teachers will play a key part in delivering environmental education and adopting new sustainability elements within schemes of work, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the subject. But no matter what role an individual colleague holds in the school, whether as a teacher or member of the support staff, they will be asked to contribute to this important work. We hope our work at school may encourage staff in their personal choices too.

Students

Students will be encouraged and supported in their personal decisions to make sustainable choices – as consumers, citizens and proud members of the Wimbledon High School community. They will have the opportunity via the Student Eco Committee to bring forward ideas and act upon them, both as individuals and to suggest actions to be taken by the school.

Parents, Alumnae, Friends of the school

We hope that our efforts towards sustainability will be reinforced in students’ homes with their families, and with friends of the school. Alumnae who can share their expertise – either by advising on their careers in the sustainability sector or through sharing ways in which they have chosen to live a greener life - will help deepen our understanding and promote innovation.

Partners

We are lucky to have a number of strong partnerships with local schools and charities. We will be asking these partners to share in our commitment, where appropriate.

Environmental Education

The UN sustainable development goals will form the basis of our programme of integrating sustainability into our curriculum, in our Junior and Senior Schools.

In particular – along with the GDST as a whole - we are concentrating on:

Good health and wellbeing (3) Quality education (4) Gender Equality (5) Responsible production and consumption (12) Climate Action (13)

We will work within the curriculum and co-curricular clubs towards ensuring a positive impact on local biodiversity, encourage stewardship of the natural world, and champion the physical and mental health benefits of connecting with nature.

Our membership of the London Schools Eco Network gives us access to resources and ideas. Alongside other GDST schools, we will undertake the EduCCate Global Bronze Award Climate Change Teacher Training programme.

Actions already taken and projects underway

In the Junior School

• The aim of curriculum changes has been to provide a coherent, whole school cross curricular approach to climate education – a green thread running through the curriculum. Triple wellbeing is at the fore for pupils - this involves of self-care; people care and earth care. This ethos was developed after training from Thoughtbox Education for all Junior School staff.

• We are using Thoughtbox’s Think and Thrive curriculum to develop discussionbased lessons, exploring some of the big issues happening across the world through a reflective and exploratory inquiry-based process of learning. Topics include linked issues of climate change, habitats, awe and wonder, water, waste, clothing, equality and diversity, and immigration.

• Our Wild Girls programme in the Junior School runs across all years from Reception to Year 6 to enable frequent and meaningful connection with our local environment. Outdoor learning takes place on Wimbledon Common and other local open spaces. This is designed to encourage the girls to forge connections with nature and care deeply about the natural world - as well as having huge benefits in terms of well-being.

In the Senior School

Departments are auditing their schemes of work to map our coverage of environmental matters. For example -

• Biology: IGCSE: Balanced Diet, Human Impact on the Environment and Biodiversity; A-level: Biodiversity, Effect of climate change on Speciation and Evolution; Conservation techniques.

• Physics: Year 9: Energy and Climate Changetrends in CO2 and temperature, the greenhouse effect, sources of anthropogenic carbon emissions, discussion of 1.5 deg vs 2 deg. Co-curricular and academic activities beyond the curriculum take the opportunity to introduce sustainability, for example -

• In DT & Engineering, students entered a competition for COP26 to design a sustainable school building.

• Clubs such as Textiles for Charity commit to upcycling materials.

A fortnightly blog, Ever Green, is sent by senior students to their peers and linked in parent newsletter with observations on green initiatives and ideas to try at home.

What are our next actions?

• Continue to review and develop the curriculum, identifying the key global and environmental issues that can be delivered in an age-appropriate way.

• Increase student understanding of the global drive for climate justice and the intersection of race, gender, and climate change issues.

• Raise awareness of energy use, by making Energy Sparks data easily accessible to students and integrating data into curriculum lessons where appropriate.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

The public examination system and many demands on curriculum time may make it difficult to incorporate as much knowledge of sustainability as we would like. We are developing and re-evaluating the curriculum for equality, diversity and inclusion; we need to take care, however, that we do not lose focus on this important work in favour of sustainability; but rather, that we seek to integrate these approaches to seeing and understanding the world.

Biodiversity and the Natural Environment

Fionnuala

Kennedy and Kathryn Jones

We will work to improve the biodiversity of our site, recognising the value of the natural environment for our community.

Actions already taken and projects underway

• An air quality survey was carried out in October 21.

• Following the renovation and repurposing of the Hastings building to house our Dining Hall, the surrounding area has been extensively planted with new beds, grass and planters.

• N ew flower beds have been installed in other areas of the school site, both at Mansel Road and Nursery Road.

• There is the beginning of a new ‘living wall’ of planting to the wall of the Sports Hall.

• Both Junior and Senior Schools have a vibrant gardening club, with a large and committed membership of gardeners who have planted bulbs, tended to plants and who

are enthusiastic to have more opportunity to expand their remit.

• Biodiversity – bird feeders have been introduced to some flowerbeds, and Junior pupils have experimented with camera traps to observe the wildlife on our site.

• A new garden is being created in front of our Sixth Form Centre.

What are our next actions?

• E stablish a new garden along our boundary with Wimbledon Hill Road, using the Merton Air Quality Survey to guide us. The Friends of WHS are generously raising funds for this project.

• Improve biodiversity of the site by reviewing the management of land – mowing, use of chemicals and and so on, and investigate a small nature garden project at Nursery Road.

• Fully involve students of all ages via activities such as Gardening Club, and outdoor learning sessions on Wimbledon Common for Senior School students.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

We will need to spend money on developing new areas of planting, and financial constraints may mean that we can’t make progress as quickly as we would like. Staff time needs to be committed to these projects, as well as a consistent commitment from students, even through the winter. The UK has been identified as one of the most naturedepleted countries in the world, so progress on increasing pockets of biodiversity can seem slow, especially in our town centre environment.

CARE - We will consume with care using the 5R principles – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle. We care about reducing our carbon footprint, personally and collectively. We care for ourselves, our community and the planet.

Community Action

Rachel Evans and Ben Turner

Pledges and actions in this area involve a recognition that:

• All purchasing choices have a carbon footprint

• Acting on the principles of Refuse, Reuse, Repair means swimming against the tide of consumer culture – it’s not easy, so our campaigns should be free of judgement of personal choices, and focus on encouragement and positivity.

Actions already taken and projects underway

• We have significantly reduced our printing of marketing materials, opting instead for digital materials in some cases.

What are our next actions?

• Work with Junior and Senior School pupils via the Eco Committees to prioritise our areas of focus, choosing impactful yet achievable aims and encouraging new routines which focus on caring for our community.

• Work to reduce our reliance on single-use items, both individually and collectively, focusing on areas like stationery and decorations as well as food and drink.

• Focus on repair as a means of reducing our carbon footprint, and empowering individuals to prolong the life of their belongings.

REPAIR - Everyone in our community will understand the value of repair for sustainability and will be able to learn the skills to repair our own belongings.

• Students have held several second-hand clothes swap events – there is an appetite among the students for rethinking fast fashion.

• We continue a programme of repairing IT equipment rather than buying new, with some repairs carried out in-house.

SHARE - We will share equipment, objects, and knowledge, helping us to step away from a consumer lifestyle to a more sustainable way of living.

Changing behaviours is hard in a world designed for convenience and consumerism. Students aren’t always able to make their own choices in their homes, for instance, about food or travel. We need to take care not to fuel eco-anxiety or feelings of too much responsibility.

We will run activities and

What challenges will we need to overcome?

We will reduce the carbon footprint of our food provision at school in partnership with our caterers, Thomas Franks. We will consider issues such as food miles, sourcing seasonal food and food waste in our supply chain and on-site.

Catering and Food

Ben Turner and Nic Fleming

Actions already taken and projects underway

• All takeaway boxes have been removed from the canteen. A culture of bringing your own reusable box is now well embedded in the community.

• Food waste is monitored through an online portal, providing us accurate data which we can use to track our progress.

What are our next actions?

We wish to ensure that our whole community understands the importance of the choices we make about food and how those choices can help us on our journey to net zero.

• Reducing meat consumption by limiting the frequency of beef on our school menus.

• Track food miles, by incorporating seasonal food into menus, and communicating our progress to the community.

• Minimise food waste through education and careful management, including surveys to identify dietary preferences (including cultural preferences and flexitarian approaches).

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Balancing financial constraints and sustainability goals can be difficult. We need to maintain food provision at school which offers the students good nutritious food which they like to eat, in line with the principles of our Strong Body, Strong Mind pastoral programme. We need to take care that a focus on sustainability in food does not prove triggering for people experiencing orthorexia in our community.

We make a clear commitment to sustainable travel to and from school for staff and pupils, stating publicly to all prospective parents that we will not run school coaches and that in the Senior School we actively encourage independent travel to and from school by walking, cycling or using public transport. In the Junior School, parents are encouraged to walk with their children, to take public transport or car share.

Travel & Transport

Rachel Brewster, Zoë Sharman and Nadia Nejand

Actions already taken and projects underway

• We have significantly reduced the amount of car parking available to staff – in our determination to green the school site and increase biodiversity and improve air quality.

• Cycle training

• Hands up survey

What are our next actions?

• Take actions which will improve local air quality, using the priorities identified in the Merton Air Quality Survey (October 2021), such as minimising engine idling and promoting active travel or the use of public transport for students and staff.

• Launching our Parent-School Agreement, to encourage families to opt for sustainable or active travel to and from school.

• Audit the impact of school travel – use of our minibuses, hire of coaches, and for sport and educational visits further afield.

Students – and indeed, staff - aren’t always able to make free choices about travel, depending on others or needing to fit in with family life. The impact of public transport provision, road safety and local government decisions is significant in meeting our active travel goals; we can only influence rather than control these areas of concern. In our consideration of school travel we must balance sustainability against our desire to offer a wide and exciting range of experiences beyond school for our students.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Procurement / Suppliers

Kathryn Jones & Nic Fleming

We will use suppliers and products which adhere to our standards on sustainability, and contribute to the ethos of mindful consumption which we model for our students and individuals in our community.

Actions already taken and projects underway

• O ur cleaning contractors, Zing Environmental, are using an innovative chemical-free, environmentally friendly cleaning solution across the school site.

• We use paper from a sustainable Forestry Commission approved supplier.

• Printing quotas for individuals and departments mean that staff and students can see the cost of printing in colour and in quantity. This data will allow us to track our progress and define targets.

What are our next actions?

• Work with our cleaning contractor to ensure we use more sustainable and non-toxic products.

• Audit paper usage, and switch to more sustainable paper wherever practical.

• Audit and change procurement processes for stationery, to limit deliveries by grouping and consolidating orders.

• Audit the impact of school travel – use of our minibuses, hire of coaches, and for sport and educational visits further afield.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Cost and availability can hamper us in making changes at speed in this area. Changes to procurement processes need staff to change the way in which they plan and work, and this behavioural change may take time.

Recycling & Waste Management

Kathryn Jones & Lisa Tonner

We will adopt the 5R approach, which assumes that recycling is the last resort and emphasises reducing material entering the waste stream. Where we do create waste, we will ensure that we are sending as little material as possible to landfill.

Actions already taken and projects underway

• O ur students successfully campaigned to eliminate polystyrene containers completely from our canteen. We require students and staff to remove all single-use containers and to require students and staff who want a takeaway lunch to bring in their own containers.

• Branded reusable water bottles are given to all incoming Year 7s, as we move towards banning single-use water bottles from the site.

• Every classroom has a recycling bin as well as a waste bin.

What are our next actions?

• Launch recycling campaign to ensure we minimise waste to landfill across the site, with clearly labelled bins and waste streams.

• Work with GDST, who are negotiating new school waste contracts for September 2023, to identify our requirements.

• Act on student initiatives (see Strategic Priority 3) to reduce waste in other areas of school life – for instance, stationery and decoration.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Adopting measures which appear impactful, yet are not science-led is a risk in this area, leading to actions being perceived as performative and inconsequential; this can undermine community engagement. Adopting the 5R approach requires significant behavioural change. Aspects of our waste management contract are not in our direct control, and we will need to wait for GDSTwide action.

We will work to minimise our water usage. The national and international context of extreme widespread drought caused by climate change means we all know this is a pressing issue.

Water Management

Kathryn Jones & Lisa Tonner

Actions already taken and projects underway

• We have installed a water butt on shelter in Early Years playground.

• Water is metered, but this has no live feed, so monitoring this data on usage is part of our forthcoming audit.

What are our next actions?

• Audit water usage and establish annual targets for a reduction in water consumption.

As Project Ex Humilibus is completed, we will have better access to meters and data.

• Work with GDST, who are negotiating new water contracts for September 2023, to identify our requirements.

• Investigate and implement ways to gather rainwater for gardening, and ensure that new garden areas include drought tolerant planting.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Aspects of our water management contract are not in our direct control, and we will need to wait for GDST-wide action. Lack of live data will hamper progress in identifying areas for action.

Energy Management

Kathryn Jones, Lisa Tonner & GDST

Energy usage is the largest contributor to carbon emissions, and so driving down consumption to the lowest possible level is vital. We will use renewal energy where possible, and take action using science-based targets to reduce our consumption.

Progress to date

• We benefit from being part of the GDST and its investment in tools which help us to measure and monitor our energy use and reduce our carbon emissions.

• Independently verified greenhouse gas emissions for Scope 1 and 2 emissions are now included in the GDST Annual report and financial statements.

Estates

planned for the new hall and sixth form roof

– adding to the energy efficiency of both buildings. Once completed, all new buildings will be awarded a BREEAM sustainability rating.

• O ur electricity has been certified renewable since October 2020. We have made significant progress replacing old light fittings in classrooms and communal spaces in our existing buildings across the site.

• The new STEAM tower uses an efficient variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating system powered by 100% renewable electricity.  A similar system has been included in the design of our Phase 2 Sixth Form space. In addition, we’ve installed solar (photovoltaic) panels of 22m2 on the STEAM roof and a further 50m2 is

• Where we have refurbished older buildings which are connected to a gas supply and have changed the building function, steps have been taken to minimise any incremental energy use. Our Hastings Dining refurbishment includes a new high efficiency VRF system and solar panels. We’re using more hot water in this building than before, and so solar panels have been added to the roof to provide renewable heat energy direct to the hot water heaters.

Continue to investigate our higher than expected base-load, and identify practical actions to reduce energy consumption.

Fully monitor the settings for heating and cooling in our new buildings to reduce electricity usage.

Engage a heating engineer to audit our plant rooms, and to suggest measures to monitor and reduce consumption.

• Set 12-month reduction targets for gas and electricity. Science based targets would require our emissions from energy to drop by at least 8% pa.

• Improve the shutdown checklist, by reviewing alongside energy data after each holiday.

• Continue to audit energy usage, finding automated and system solutions wherever possible to drive down our consumption.

Achieving energy efficiency is undoubtedly more challenging in our older buildings, which are heated by gas fired boilers and, in many cases, ageing heating systems.

We will continue to work with and be led by the GDST’s Head of Infrastructure and Sustainability.

What are our next actions?

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Building and Construction

Kathryn Jones, Lisa Tonner & GDST Estates

Actions already taken and projects underway

• New buildings use no gas for cooling and heating, and comply with BREEAM standards.

• We are assessing the viability of a pool cover to conserve energy.

• We are implementing mitigation measures for excess heat, such as reflective film, shading and green walls.

What are our next actions?

• As facilities and plant rooms come to endof-life and renewal, we will explore more sustainable methods of heating, cooling and building management.

• Investigate further installations of solar panels – this is part of an GDST-wide sustainability project.

What challenges will we need to overcome?

Aspects of building management and construction projects are not in our direct control, and we will need to wait for GDST-wide action. Measures which are in our control can have a high cost and we must prioritise the most impactful work first, and balance this with other needs on the site.

We will consider sustainability when we look to improve and maintain the older parts of our estate.

ReferencesandFurtherReading

bell hooks, belonging, Routledge, 2009

Cop26: Pacific delegates condemn ‘monumental failure’ that leaves islands in peril, The Guardian, 15 November 2021 (accessed 12/8/22) WEB LINK

Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected, UNWomen website, 28 February 2022 (accessed 12/8/22) WEB LINK

Girls’ Education is a Powerful Tool for Fighting Climate Change, International Coalition of Girls Schools (ISGS) website, 1 April 2021 (accessed 12/8/22) WEB LINK

Biodiversity loss risks ‘ecological meltdown’ – scientists, BBC News website, 10 October 2021 (accessed 12/8/22) WEB LINK

Droughts are getting worse around the world, here’s why and what needs to be done, World Economic Forum website, 12 August 2022 (accessed 23/8/22) WEB LINK

Wimbledon High School, Mansel Road, London SW19 4AB 020 8971 0900 • info@wim.gdst.net • www.wimbledonhigh.gdst.net

Head: Ms Fionnuala Kennedy

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