Climate Action Plan

This Climate Action Plan outlines the strategies and commitments of our special school to reduce our environmental impact, promote sustainability, and engage our pupils and wider community in climate-positive action. The plan has been developed in line with national education sustainability goals and adapted to meet the needs of our pupils, who primarily have autism and ADHD.  

Type: Special School (Autism and ADHD focus) 

Pupil Numbers: 30 

Plan Lead: Helena Teverson 

Date of Plan: Sep 2025 – July 2026 

Next Review Date: Sept 2026 

 - committed to embedding sustainability across the school’s operations and ethos. We will ensure climate action is integrated into our strategic planning, risk management, and policy development. 

Key Actions: 

• Assign a Sustainability Lead – Helena Teverson 
• Include sustainability in school improvement plans. 
• Provide regular updates to governors and staff - yearly.
• Have involved students and TAs in setting goals. 

We aim to minimise our energy use and carbon footprint by improving efficiency, monitoring consumption, and promoting awareness among staff and pupils. 

Key Actions: 

• Have signed up to the Let’s Go Zero campaign-  

We confirm that we are taking action now to reduce our own carbon impact, and that it demands the UK Government help all schools reach this goal by the end of the decade. 

• Have installed radiators that have thermostats (TRVs) to control heat levels in classrooms and keep classroom doors ‘shut to’ as much as possible so less heat is lost – this will be our biggest impact goal. 
• Teach everyone how to use the radiators and communicate to church that the radiators are on a timer more effectively – have instructions next to radiators to put timer on or set timers so that it goes off at the weekend. Also buy adaptors so that more than one thing can be plugged into that socket at a time. 
• Replace lighting in hallways with LEDs as they blow. 
• Be mindful of turning off lights when not needed and when leaving for break and lunch in classrooms. 
• Implement a 'switch off' campaign in classrooms and ‘shut doors’ campaign in kitchen, hall and sanctuary. 
• Install plastic over windows upstairs in sanctuary. 
• Explore renewable energy options (e.g. solar panels) when have new building. 
• Discuss with students any additional ideas. 

We will reduce waste through re-use, recycling, and responsible procurement, ensuring visual and structured systems to support pupil engagement. 

Key Actions: 

• Group together orders so that they can all be shipped together, where possible. 
• Try and use local suppliers as much as possible to reduce energy used in transport for orders. 
• Introduce clearly labelled recycling points for paper, card, hard plastic and aluminium cans.
• Reduce single-use plastics in classrooms – introduce aluminium bottles to refill for cleaning whiteboards. 
• Develop an accessible visual guide to recycling – and bins to be clearly labelled, especially paper recycling bins in classrooms. 
• Encourage sixth-formers to bring their own mug. 

We promote sustainable travel for staff and pupils while considering individual needs and safety requirements. 

Key Actions: 

• Encourage paperless parking among staff – use app to buy tickets not buy a paper ticket - less paper waste.  
• Encourage car sharing among staff where possible. 
• Encourage use of trains, buses, cycling and electric cars to get to school – BCP always offer bus passes first. 
• Promote active travel options for local staff and families. 
• Promote taxi sharing amongst students. 

We aim to promote healthy, low-impact meals (less meat) and reduce food waste but are mindful of the needs of our students who may have sensory issues or food-related issues. We do not provide food on site and encourage waste from packed lunches to be taken home and recycled.  

Our curriculum includes accessible, sensory-friendly learning about nature, climate, and sustainability. We aim to empower pupils through hands-on, meaningful activities. 

Key Actions: 

• Include sustainability themes in PSHE, science (especially chemistry, biology and physics (renewable energy) units in KS3 and GCSE), maths (data about the National Grid) and life skills. 
• Use reuseable resources – have made a bank of reuseable resources for KS3 and GCSE biology and chemistry – laminated activities. 
• Made the emerging group students ‘climate ambassadors’ as part of the unit ‘introduction to marine life’ to see how marine life can be saved in certain parts of the world by adopting more sustainable methods – such as sustainable fishing and litter picking exercises. 
• Used outdoor learning spaces for sensory-based environmental education. 
• Involved pupils in Eco-Committee activities and debate with students regularly on improved sustainability targets for the school. 
• Celebrate environmental awareness days. 
• Digital learning 
• Art department is going to look into using paints that can be easily neutralized before being disposed of down the sink when we are at the new building. 
• Life lessons will use off-cuts to upcycle work, old plant pots and old fabric  
• Switch search engines as much as possible to ‘ecosia’ which when enough searches are performed it plants a tree. 
• Could also use Ecosia AI: A not-for-profit AI that prioritizes small, efficient models and generates more renewable energy than its operations consume. 
• Viro AI: A chat interface that promotes sustainable, climate-friendly AI, claiming to power every message with clean energy. 
• GreenPT: A platform combining AI with European-hosted, renewable-powered infrastructure 

We will enhance our outdoor areas to support local wildlife and provide sensory, calm, and educational spaces for pupils. 

Key Actions: 

• We have set up a gardening club for students to join. The club is developing the school site for nature, outdoor learning and staff and pupil wellbeing. 
• Create a sensory garden and wildlife habitats when have new building – including a pond using a solar water pump to filter the water/for a fountain. 
•  We maintain outdoor areas using sustainable methods – local gardener sweeps up waste in garden opposite by hand. 
• Involve pupils in gardening and nature projects when have new building.  

We will work with families, local organisations, and other schools to promote community-wide climate awareness and collaboration. 

Key Actions: 

• Share successes via newsletters and social media on our sustainability tasks and plan. 
• Share successes via newsletters and social media on our wildlife habitats when have new building. 
• Collaborate with nearby schools on joint projects when have new building. 

Progress will be reviewed annually by the Sustainability Lead (Helena) and reported to the Senior Leadership Team and Governors. Feedback from staff, pupils, and families will inform updates to this plan. 

Key Actions: 

• Conduct an annual review with SLT. 
• Update targets based on performance and new opportunities, such as a new building.
• Celebrate achievements in school communications, especially those of students.