Climate Resilient Schools
The programme
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has partnered with the Department for Education and Thames Water to make up to 100 London schools more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Measures include improving water efficiency, reducing surface water flood risk, helping schools create climate adaptation plans and teaching children the importance of climate adaptation.
The Climate Resilient Schools project has targeted those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, prioritising the top 10 per cent of schools with highest surface water flood risk and that fall within the worst bands of the Climate Risk Map. Flooding can have a major impact on schools. In the summer of 2007, flooding in England resulted in widespread school closures that amounted to 400,000 lost pupil school days, at an estimated economic cost of £12m.
Below is an outline of the programme with a list of schools that are involved in the programme at the end.
Follow @LDN_Environment for updates on this programme.
What has the programme delivered?
There have been four strands to the programme that have been delivered over the last few months:
- SuDS rain planters – 72 schools have received 564 SuDS rain planters helping to reduce flood risk by capturing rainwater from roofs and they also provided biodiversity and wellbeing benefits. We have had lots of great feedback from schools letting us know how pleased they are with their SuDS rain planters.
- Smarter Business Visits - Thames Water’s free Smarter Business Visits have been looking to address leaks and install water efficient fitting in schools. For example, tap restrictors, urinal sensors, converting single-flush to dual-flush. 28 schools have had visits, saving over 500,000 litres of water per day. That’s 1 Olympic swimming pool saved over a week!
- Weather Stations and educational resources – We have installed weather stations on 24 schools with loggers in 30 SuDS rain planters to monitor their effectiveness. This is the most extensive network of weather stations in schools that we know of. Associated education resources have been produced including a poster about the weather station, a data dashboard for in-classroom demos and in-class hardware weather station demos. You can see more about this project and the data on the FreeStation website.
- Climate Adaptation Plans – 60 schools have received bespoke climate adaptation plans to help identify potential adaptation measures that could be implemented in the future to tackle the risks posed by a changing climate and extreme weather events. Each school was surveyed to determine high risk areas in their school and then measures and interventions were suggested to help tackle these risks. These measures might include green roofs or window shading to reduce overheating. Read the overview report giving a summary of the surveys and recommendations.
The SUDs planters are great as they are self-sufficient and don't need watering. The plants provided are flourishing with the harvested rain water and the children have enjoyed being involved in the planting process. While helping out with the planters, a year 2 pupil said, 'I want to be a gardener one day'.
Schools Involved
Sherwood Park Primary School
Barrington Primary School
Cleeve Park School
Harris Garrard Academy
Salusbury Primary School
Brentfield Primary School
Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Infant and Nursery School
Carlton Vale Infant School
Balgowan Primary School
St Paul's Cray Church of England Primary School
Hawley Primary School
Hampstead School
UCL Academy
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Infant and Nursery School
Harris Academy
Beulah Junior School
Beulah Nursery and Infants School
Downsview Primary and Nursery School
Norbury High School for Girls
St John's Church of England Primary School
Kingsmead School
Oakthrope Primary School
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
Haimo Primary School
Kidbrooke School
Charlton Park Academy
Woodhill Primary School
Shacklewell Primary School
Cardinal Pole RC School
Randal Cremer Primary School
Springfield Community Primary School
Morningside Primary School
Simon Marks Jewish Primary School
Harrington Hill Primary School
Betty Layward Primary School
Holy Trinity Primary School
St Dominic's Catholic Primary School
The City Academy, Hackney
Haggerston School
St Matthias CE Primary School
Rushmore Primary School
The Garden
Simon Marks Jewish Primary School
Stoke Newington School & Sixth Form
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School
St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Primary School
Seven Sisters Primary School
Lordship Lane Primary School
Tiverton Primary School
Hornsey School for Girls
The Brook Special Primary School
The Willow Primary School
Highgate Primary School
Rokesly Junior School
Our Lady of Muswell Roman Catholic Primary School
Highgate Wood Secondary School
North London Rudolf Steiner School
Oriel Academy West London
Marlborough Primary School and Nursery
St Mark's Catholic School
The Green School for Girls
Ormiston Latimer Academy
Marlborough Primary School
Saint Thomas More Language College
Lovelace Primary School
Coombe Girls School
King's Oak Primary School
St Andrew's Church of England Primary School
Heathbrook Primary School
Rathfern Primary School
St Mary's Lewisham Church of England Primary School
St Margaret's Lee Church of England Primary School
Edmund Waller Primary School
Bonus Pastor Catholic College
Kender Primary School
Lonesome Primary School
Harris Academy Merton
John F Kennedy School
Salisbury Primary School
Manford Primary School
East Sheen Primary School
St George's Church of England Primary School
The Belham Primary School
Peter Hills with St Mary's and St Paul's Church of England Primary School
Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School
Bygrove Primary School
English Martyrs Roman Catholic Primary School
St Mary's Church of England Primary School
Tooting Primary School
Gatton Primary School
Beatrix Potter Primary School
Heathmere Primary School
St Mary Magdalene Church of England Primary School
St Vincent's Roman Catholic Primary School
Get Involved
The Climate Resilient Schools programme has now closed but here are a few opportunities to get involved in other ways:
- Young Ambassadors is the Mayor’s school volunteering programme which connects young Londoners with their communities through social action including environmental links. Find out more on the Young Ambassadors website or contact [email protected].
- For regular updates from City Hall on events and opportunities for schools, sign up to our schools newsletter.
- the Natural History Museum is leading a partnership to establish a new National Education Nature Park and climate action awards scheme. With their partners they want to give students the opportunity to transform the green space at their place of education into their own Nature Park. Read more and register for updates on the NHM website.
- STEM climate ambassador’s scheme - Schools can register their interest in receiving support from a climate expert, for example to help develop Climate Action Plans, upskill teachers on climate change or run STEM classroom activities.
- The Climate Change Committee have developed a factsheet on climate change adaptation specifically targeted at children and young people. It includes an introduction on weather, climate and how it is changing, along with specific actions they can take to improve their school or local community's resilience to climate change.
- The Trees for Schools programme aims to transform urban school grounds into leafy green oases. The programme can take the school through all phases of the tree planting process from initial engagement, design and implementation.