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Background
Schools are typically enthusiastic
about environmental education but not confident about the steps to take
to improve their own environmental performance. They tend to be high
energy users with stretched budgets and can benefit financially from
controlling their energy consumption. They can then use their own energy
monitoring to educate pupils about the importance of energy efficiency.
SWEA’s existing education work on
the issues of energy efficiency and sustainability highlighted the
teachers’ need for a manageable, pupil-friendly system for energy
monitoring.
Aims
The School Energy Diary was
developed to enable pupils to be key actors in the monitoring process so
that they could learn about the importance and application of energy
efficiency in a real context, using their own school as the case study.
Activities
Initially the energy diary was
distributed to 12 pilot schools. These schools received a presentation
and training session. This process aided the development of additional
supporting documents to go on the CD as a substitute for a face-to-face
training session.
The diary was aimed at 7-11 year
olds and therefore a comprehensive list of key stage 2 primary schools
and relevant named contacts was compiled. Contacts were chosen from
relevant subject areas including Environmental Education, PSHE and
Citizenship, Science and Geography.
The diary and the supplementary
material on CD ROM was then provided to these schools with a covering
letter offering further support.
After an initial familiarisation
period schools were sent posters. The purpose of these was to convey a
range of energy saving messages to encourage good practice amongst all
school users. This also helped to disseminate the school’s energy
efficiency work to the whole school community.
Results
The evaluation survey revealed a
high level of use amongst respondents, and the majority of those who had
not used the Energy Diary said that they intended to use it in future.
Work with the Energy Diary
integrated into a number of curriculum areas.
School buildings become the main
educational resource, putting learning in a real context. Pupils
acquired skills and knowledge that will be useful throughout life.
The project supports schools’
endeavours to achieve Eco Schools, Energy Certification for Schools and
Healthy Schools awards.
Posters proved to be a good way of
making initial contact and were very popular with the schools.
Involving pupils in school energy
efficiency programmes in this way gives them a real insight into an
otherwise abstract issue.
The diaries enable them to see a
direct connection between their activities and the cost of these in both
financial and environmental terms.
By actively engaging pupils with
meter reading and allocating them a degree of responsibility for their
school’s energy use, pupils become involved and motivated and share
their learning with their families.
As a result of this engagement, the
whole school community’s awareness of energy efficiency and
sustainability issues is raised. |
