SEEd advised Solar for Schools on ways schools could make more of their solar panels in the classroom. Solar panels, and the ability to use a renewable energy source, are within the reach of many schools. In the UK and internationally, Solar for Schools is looking to put solar panels on to school roofs. At SEEd we see how solar panels can bring opportunities to link to the curriculum and the campus. We believe that by working with organisations like Solar for Schools we can achieve more and so encourage more schools to embrace a lower carbon future.

If you would like to join and help more schools take advantage of the opportunities, contact Ann Flaherty at Solar Options for Schools on 07946 245 556 or email ann@solarforschools.co.uk.

N.B. for every £50,000 Solar for Schools invests in solar panels on a school in the UK, the school will benefit for between £100,000 and £200,000 in savings and profit share over the first 20 years of the system while saving over 600 tonnes of carbon emissions and helping reduce climate change.

UNESCO has been recognised globally as the lead agency for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In 2015, SEEd was selected as one of the Key Partners on their Global Action Programme for Education for Sustainable Development. The Global Action Programme is the follow-up to the decade for Education for Sustainable Development which came to an end in December 2014. The programme serves as UNESCO’s main commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly that of quality education for all, and seeks to generate and scale up concrete action on ESD.

SEEd worked in Priority Action Area 2 which focuses on the transformation of learning and training environments to embed a Whole School/Institution approach. Our work with UNESCO involved gathering best practice on whole school approaches as well as looking at the evidence of the impacts of Sustainable Schools. Find out more about Whole School Approaches here.

Wellington College is one of the world’s top co-educational boarding schools with a strong commitment to embedding sustainability into the heart of their campus, curriculum and community. Wellington were the first school to join our Whole School Approach network which we launched at the beginning of 2017. Schools involved in this network received up to four consultation sessions from either a member of the SEEd team or one of our many fellows and advisors, depending on your personal interest and specific areas of need. Our initial work with Wellington began with a full day of environmental events which were organised by students and took place across the whole school.

SEEd partnered with Wellington College to pilot the SEEd Young Changemakers programme offered to students in Year 11 and 12 as compulsory co-curriculum activity. The pilot ran over four consecutive years and is now embedded in the curriculum at Wellington. Find out more about the programme here.

Multi-award winning EdTech gaming studio Brainspark Games (formerly Xplorealms) is building an eduverse of free, culturally nuanced, 3D-open world, immersive educational mobile games for 7-13-year-olds. 12 weeks of term-time learning are condensed into a few hours of fun, fast gameplay!

We were delighted to support them to embed sustainability principles and philosophies into the very heart of their games. The process could be described as a Whole Gaming approach to Sustainability.