Paul Astles

A professional bringing together their climate expertise to help a school develop and deliver a Climate Action Plan.

To begin with in July 2023 I shared an example of a climate action plan and had a discussion with the headteacher about the type of activity at the school that may be appropriate to go on to their plan. There were several examples that this conversation brought up. For instance, the imminent installation of solar panels at the school. The desire to reduce waste. The development of the forest school and various ways to bring sustainability into the curricula. The school then committed to developing an action plan by November 2024. We had our first meeting to discuss initiatives that the school could connect with as part of their sustainability journey. I linked them to the Eco-Schools initiative and the Woodland Trust awards. The headteacher liked that the Woodland trust work could feed into the Eco-school journey and agreed that school would begin their work towards achieving awards in both schemes. This helped focus how their approach to sustainability could connect to exist plans for curriculum development.

The Climate Essentials training and introduction to the four areas of the Climate Action Plan helped me to better understand how to to talk to the school setting about what an action plan might look like for them. Additionally, the Sustainability Support for Education resources available have offered a useful starting point for discussion with the school. I have been able to draw on my professional experience as both a teacher and member of the Green Gown Award winning Open University Learning Design team to help discussions be evidence based and student centred.