With the new school year underway, Sustainable Charlbury is celebrating a successful partnership with Charlbury Primary School. In the last five years, we have donated £87,000 in grants to support a wide range of projects: some helping students develop greater awareness of environmental issues and the natural world; others upgrading the school building to improve energy efficiency and reduce bills.
Sustainability in the curriculum
We are, for example, currently funding a teacher to spend half a day a week developing and leading sustainability activities. Kirsty Mahony, one of the staff, has taken on the three-year role with energy and enthusiasm.
Charlbury School has gained accredition under the Eco-Schools Green Flag award scheme which recognises student-led achievements in areas such as promoting biodiversity, improving energy efficiency and reducing litter.
Among many other activities, Kirsty is collaborating with Will Dennis, Charlbury Town Council’s recently-appointed nature recovery contractor, who is keen to ensure that every primary school child in the area has the chance to visit a prominent local site where nature recovery is taking place.
SusCha is also providing financial support to run a weekly after-school session for reception class students at Little Wild Things, an outdoor nature play centre, located at a woodland site on the Cornbury Estate.
Improving energy efficiency
Upgrading the fabric of the school building has taken place over several years. The first step was a thermal imaging survey to identify areas of poor insulation, draughts and cold spots. Retrofit building experts, Cosy Homes, were commissioned to identify the best combination of measures required to make the school building as energy-efficient and comfortable as possible.
The underlying design of the 1960s building places constraints on what can be achieved. It is configured in an E shape which means there is a large external surface area exposed to cold in winter and heat in summer.
Oddities emerged in the evaluation process. For example, a survey of the loft area revealed that a guitar had been bolted into the roof during construction or previous repairs! There were two boilers for different parts of the school. A check showed that the boilers were wrongly labelled, so that turning the heating up or down for the lower school in fact changed the setting for the upper school and vice versa. No wonder teachers complained that one part of the building always seemed too hot and the other too cold!
LED lighting and insulation
Improvements implemented so far include installing low energy lighting, new wall cavity insulation, new roof insulation and replacement of some of the doors. Further upgrades are in the pipeline. The school seems pleased with SusCha’s contribution. “These projects not only benefit the school and the environment, but they inspire our children to care for the planet’s future”, commented Kate Robertson, the head teacher.
