Climate Action – Sustainability Plan
Sustainability and ecology are vitally important; in business, at home and in our children’s education. Here at Mill Lane Primary School, we pride ourselves on our forward-thinking approach to environmentally driven education and community engagement. The journey to that goal of sustainability begins with educating our students in a nurturing and sustainable environment and one that is both engaging and enjoyable.
What is Climate Change?
The dictionary definition is:
A change in global or regional acclimate patterns , in particular a change apparent from mod to late 20th Century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produce they the use of fossil fuels.
There are many factors that can make the Earth warmer and colder including:
- greenhouse gases caused by human activity,
- deforestation, where more than half of the world’s surface has been ploughed and paved,
- ozone layer trapping heat closer to the Earth’s surface
- different types of air pollution which have different effects on the atmosphere.
The challenge of climate change is formidable. For children and young people to meet it with determination, and not with despair, we must offer them not just truth, but also hope. Learners need to know the truth about climate change – through knowledge-rich education. They must also be given the hope that they can be agents of change, through hands-on activity and, as they progress, through guidance and programmes allowing them to pursue a green career pathway in their chosen field (DFE 2023).
What can we do?
The DFE has called on all education sectors to create a sustainability climate action plan to show how we, as a school community, can support national and international initiatives which are aimed at protecting the world through direct climate action. As a school, we have important role to play in this, particularly reducing our environmental footprint to work towards net zero and giving all children, young people and adults the knowledge and skills to thrive in the green economy and to help restore nature.
Through our sustainability climate action plan, we will engage directly with children and young people who are passionate about the natural world, want to do their best to protect it and can influence their wider communities.
Through their learned and lived experiences from our Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 6, our children will develop a broad knowledge and understanding of the importance of nature, sustainability and the causes and impact of climate change and to translate this knowledge into positive action and solutions.
Using the four areas identified in the DFE’s Sustainability and climate change strategy, our sustainability and climate action plan will focus on the following 4 key pillars:
- adaptation and resilience: how our setting is preparing for and responding to the impacts of climate change
- biodiversity and nature: efforts to protect and enhance nature and wildlife within our setting and its surroundings
- climate education and green skills: how learners are supported to understand climate change, sustainability, and develop relevant skills
- decarbonisation and net zero: actions to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, working towards net zero
Sustainability Leadership and Climate Action Plan
At Mill Lane Primary School, we are committed to making sustainability an integral part of school life and to helping pupils understand the importance of caring for our environment through their learning, daily routines and wider school experiences.
The national Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for schools, launched in 2022, aims for the UK education sector to be world leading in sustainability and climate change by 2030. At Mill Lane Primary School, we are proud to support this ambition through a clear and sustained approach to environmental responsibility. We have both Carbon and Eco reports and action plans in place, and sustainability is embedded throughout the curriculum so that pupils develop knowledge, awareness and a sense of accountability across all subject areas. We also work closely with our wider community through projects and partnerships that encourage a collective response to the current climate crisis. Subject Leads take responsibility for sustainability within their subjects such as the Computing Lead completing whole school online digital audit and clean ups regularly to reduce school digital footprint.
This work reflects our belief that sustainability should not be taught in isolation but woven through everything we do. Through our forward-thinking approach, pupils are encouraged to think critically about environmental issues, to make responsible choices and to understand how their actions can contribute to positive change. Our aim is to ensure that children leave Mill Lane Primary School with the knowledge, values and confidence to play their part in creating a more sustainable future.
Mill Lane Primary School Sustainability Goals 2026 – 2027
A school sustainability goal is to create a whole-school approach to reduce environmental impact and foster eco-conscious citizens by focusing on areas like energy/waste reduction, sustainable food, green travel, biodiversity, and embedding climate education into the curriculum, ultimately lowering costs, improving well-being, and teaching vital skills for a greener future.
|
Year Group All |
Goal White recycle bag and food waste bins within classrooms Food waste to be placed in compost bins Upcycling, repurposing, recycling and re-using resources Donating uniforms to be re-used by younger children Awarding dojo points for engagement and active participation in school eco code |
|
| Nursery and Minis | Purposeful and explicit teaching of recycling using recycle bags, compost bins and food bins | |
| Reception | Encouraging children to bring upcycling modelling materials to school such as cardboard rolls, plastic bottles, egg boxes etc | |
| Year 1 | Gardening club, taking responsibility for growing areas within the KS1. Planting and caring for wildflowers, bee friendly flowers, vegetables and rewilding areas (ensuring hedgehog highways, water accessibility and bird house safety) | |
| Year 2 |
Growing from seed and planting, then designating ‘watering crews’ using the water from the school water butts. Supporting Year 1 younger children in their eco code endeavours based on previous year’s lived experience. |
|
| Year 3 | Preplanning opportunities for outside learning: making use of the outdoor classroom and the rewilding area created with upcycled log seating | |
| Year 4 | Designating table resource auditors to check pen tops are on to reduce resource consumption. | |
| Year 5 | Monitoring repurposing paper – including unused workbooks – for indoor play activities throughout school and as ‘scrap paper’ for learning activities within all classrooms | |
| Year 6 | Designating white recycling bag monitors who collect all bags and deliver to caretaker twice a week | |
| Class 7 |
Encouraging children to bring upcycling modelling materials to school such as cardboard rolls, plastic bottles, egg boxes etc Designating water crews using the school water buts once the new build is complete |
|
| Class 8 and Class 9 | Designating white recycling bag monitors who collect all bags and deliver to caretaker twice a week |
Our democratically voted Eco Crew are representatives from each class that take accountability and charge of green projects, recycling drives, and environmental improvements around the school.
Main Tasks and Duties
- Conducting Eco-Audits: Inspecting the school to check energy use, waste habits, and recycling systems.
- Managing Recycling: Ensuring each classroom has recycling bags, food waste bins and are taking responsibility for their assigned sustainability goal.
- Organizing Clean-ups: Litter-picking around the school grounds and encouraging adults not to litter.
- Promoting Saving Energy: Turning off lights and heaters when classes leave rooms, closing windows and doors to save heat, ensuring taps are in working order and that school resources are not being wasted.
- Improving Outdoor Spaces: Rewilding, ensuring nature walkways, monitoring water butts and wildlife ponds, growing vegetables, and recycling materials for tricky play.
- Running Campaigns: Promoting and encouraging events such as Recycle-Reuse-Reduce, Walk to School Week, No Mow May, World Earth Day, Switch Off Fortnight and working alongside staff to contribute to Count Your Carbon and Eco Schools reports.
- Informing the School: Disseminating information to classes, leading assemblies and sharing updates to make sure everyone takes accountability and makes lifelong changes to promote sustainability.
Eco School’s 2026 Green Flag Award
You may be interested in reading the 2026 Eco Schools Impact Report or the latest Eco-Schools newsletters and information here:
Mill Lane Primary School’s Carbon Foot Print Report 2026
Mill Lane Primary School’s carbon baseline for 2024-2025 was 228.13 tCo2e which – by actioning the school’s 2025-2026 Sustainability and Carbon Action Plan – we significantly reduced to 126.50 tCo2e for the academic year 2025-2026. This year’s plan is based on both the school’s Eco and Carbon Footprint report.
Sustainability and Carbon Footprint Plan 2026-2027
Green Flag Distinction July 2026 Feedback
The Mill Lane ‘Let’s go Zero’ 2026 plan is pending, awaiting climate action advisor confirmation of actions.
Useful website links:
Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education – GOV.UK
UK Climate Change • Let’s Go Zero