Energy efficiency UP, wildlife OUT? How to make sure energy efficiency improvements work for your school and for wildlife, too

Prof. Aimee Ambrose, Sheffield Hallam University

Standing in the playground at my daughter’s school in summer, my eyes are always drawn upwards. Few other people seem to notice the fast and stealthy flight of the prehistoric birds overhead. They are Swifts and they have nested in the eaves of the 19th Century school for as long as anyone can remember. There are about six nesting pairs at the school these days and they cause no problems at all, going unnoticed most of the time, aside from their occasional aerial acrobatic displays. Children participating in the school’s Eco Club are encouraged to look up and appreciate the world’s fastest bird in level flight, that make their homes in their school.

Swifts are incredible birds – they migrate from central Africa every spring to breed in the cooler climes of Northern Europe. They can travel at 60mph and cover 500 miles a day on their migration. Swifts eat, sleep and breed while flying. They never stop for a perch or a rest- they simply rest half of their brain, while the other half keeps them moving. Swifts are truly prehistoric, having survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.  They navigate their way to the exact same spot every year to breed and do so every year of their adult lives. They are faithful to their nesting sites and if they are unable to access them, they will die trying to gain access. Swifts are just one variety of ‘cavity nesting species’, a group that also includes House Sparrows, Starlings and various species of Bat. House Martins and Swallows may also be considered cavity nesters, but they tend to build nest cups out of mud attached to the outside of a building, rather than tucking themselves on the inside of the building.

All of these species are in steep and rapid decline (all with Red Listed status, meaning they are at risk of extinction). The threats facing cavity nesting species are myriad, but chief amongst them is loss of nesting sites. For millennia, cavity nesters have made their nests in our homes,  tucking into tiny nooks and crannies under the roofline. But, we are blocking up these small gaps more than ever, often in pursuit of greater energy efficiency in our buildings. Many people making improvements to buildings, whether it’s installing a new roof, boosting insulation or just fitting new fascia boards or guttering, will have no idea that they are contributing to the decline of wildlife.

Government has recently launched a long overdue programme to boost the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools. This investment is to be welcomed and will make school more thermally comfortable and reduce running costs. But, there is a hidden risk in rolling out schemes like this. The preponderance of older school buildings in the UK, with their abundant imperfections in the brick and stonework, appeal hugely to cavity nesting species. Forging ahead with works without an ecological survey (this could be as simple as watching the building at different times of day during nesting season) risks harming already vulnerable species and breaking the law. Disturbing or blocking access to an active nesting or roosting site is illegal in the UK, whether you realise you are doing it or not. Erecting scaffolding that blocks access to the eaves, also counts as blocking access.

Cavity nesting species make important contributions to healthy eco-systems and will do no harm to a building. Indeed, hosting cavity nesting species in your school provides the best possible opportunity for children to learn about and be close some of our most astonishing and vulnerable wildlife.

If you’re (very wisely) considering taking advantage of subsidies to improve energy efficiency in your school, then take the opportunity to learn about the wildlife that might be very quietly securing its future within your buildings. This is more likely in older school buildings, but can occur in buildings of almost any age, where there are small gaps. Ensuring that any work (whether investigatory or otherwise) takes place outside of the nesting season (which runs from late April until September), will avoid any risk to wildlife. Whether you have wildlife nesting or roosting in your building or not, consider making provision for it while you’re doing work by installing as many universal nest bricks as you can- they can accommodate most types of cavity nesting birds and bats and never need any maintenance. They cost as little as £30 each plus installation costs and can be transformational for cavity nesters. Other solutions also exist, including nest boxes that affix to the outside of a building or integral nest boxes that sit inside soffits. For more information on the options available to benefit all cavity nesting species, visit Sheffield Swift Network’s (SSN) website: www.sheffieldswiftnetwork.org

Feel free to contact me for further information: a.ambrose@shu.ac.uk

Schools Climate Education Conference at AESSEAL Stadium Rotherham

Pupils from 25 schools throughout South Yorkshire took part in this year’s Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire Conference at New York Stadium, Rotherham last Thursday.

The conference was opened by Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham Central, who sent a video message to open the conference. She spoke about how unfair it was that those who have made the smallest contribution to climate change are suffering the most. Countries in the global south are having to deal with floods, droughts and crop failures when it is emissions from the rich countries that have caused this. Some small island states are in imminent danger due to rising sea levels and two could be submerged before the end of the century. Rotherham has seen flooding in Whiston and Treeton, so it’s coming to us too. She said the most simple thing you can do to combat climate change is write to your MP.  

Youth drama group  Drama Kids performed a powerful extract from a script they had devised themselves called ‘Trash Planet’, calling for us all, including governments,  to rise to the challenge of climate solutions.

Carolyn Leary explained some alarming facts about temperatures. In 2015 the Paris Agreement highlighted the importance of not exceeding a 1.5C increase in average world temperatures, but it is now clear we will overshoot this. The average global temperature in the Ice Age was 10C and the average planetary temperature now is 15C, so 1.5 makes a massive difference. Think of it like your body temperature-which is usually 37C. If you have a temperature of 38.5 you are very ill. Our planet is currently sick. 

The Zines workshop got children making small magazines about nature, using old magazines to cut and paste. It was run by the National Education Nature Park who provide free programmes for schools to empower children and young people to make a positive difference to both their own and nature’s future.

The Energy Heroes workshop looked at the maths of our energy mix. Did you know that 29.4% of our electricity now comes from wind power, bigger than gas at 25.9%? A typical annual bill for a primary school’s energy is now £40,000. Energy Heroes worked out that if the staff and pupils work together to turn off appliances when not needed and avoid overheating classrooms, bills can be cut by 10%, saving a school £4000 a year. 

The children were encouraged to compose a rap. Led by professional musicians each small group came up with a verse and it was all put together to make a song. The group I sat with came up with

Gas and coal are so mean
So is Biomass it seems
Make more wind and use the sun
Make our world a better one! 

It was wonderful to see students’ ideas being turned into a finished product in such a short time. They performed it to everybody at the end of the day, using bin lids to add to the percussion. 

Hope for the Future led this workshop to encourage the youngsters to engage with their  MP’s. Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohammed was used as a case study and students worked out what common interests they had with her. They worked on questions to ask her and a video was made of students asking each question which will be sent to Abtisam Mohammed who has promised to make a video with her replies. 

Lunchtime gave the students time to interact with the many stalls from different environmental groups to pick up ideas to take back to their schools.

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust ran a  Greenspace Role Play workshop about planning an open space. They used Eldon Road Recreation Ground in Rotherham as a case study. Each group was given a budget of £70,000 and had to choose how to spend it, on items such as tree planting, wildflower meadows, ponds, bird and bat boxes, habitat improvements for otters, litter picks, paths, bins, fences, play equipment and community events. Students annotated a map of the park and then had to justify how they had spent their money to other participants. Students learnt how it was important to balance the needs of different people and nature so that the space worked for everyone. 

Towards the end of the day, each school created an Action Plan to take back to their school leaders to make positive changes to their school for climate and nature. Each student chose one priority they thought the school should concentrate on. These included school meals, school ethos, curriculum, food growing, heating and insulation, gender equality, buying less and buying eco products, active travel and engaging the community. Students gathered around a mentor for each idea and discussed what their school might do and what help they might need to achieve it. Then students returned to school groups to debate and finalise their plan. 

The Art Competition was won with a collaborative effort from Astrea Academy and Freya won the poetry competition. The event ended with the presentation of a Climate Hope banner created during the course of the day by community sewing group, Common Thread.

Common Thread, a community project that organises social exchanges of clothing, repair workshops, and playful up-cycling activities, created a banner based on patches schools brought with them on the theme of climate hope. They had this to say about the SCESY Conference:

‘What a FANTASTIC and inspirational day working on this community art banner and discussing the slow fashion movement with so many brilliant young people at the Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire Schools Conference!’

Students I spoke to had enjoyed the day and were enthusiastic to go back to their schools and help make some changes. Amina from Rescope Primary thought adults should spend more time enjoying nature and had made a Zine about this. Jane and Jessica wanted more wildflowers to encourage butterflies and bees and wanted their MP to make more greenspaces in the community.

Good Life Schools in Sheffield

Sheffield Hallam University has partnered with Global Action Plan to deliver the ‘Good Life Schools’,  a free programme for secondary schools and colleges, that brings communities together to create ways of living and learning together that are good for us, and good for the planet.

The programme has been running in 3 Sheffield secondaries this academic year (Meadowhead School, King Egberts School and High Storrs School), and have an additional 7 secondary school places for the 2025-26 academic year, available on a first come first served basis.

Join our supported Good Life Schools programme and receive:

  • CPD, launch assembly and workshop delivery from the local officer  
  • Step-by-step guidance and a pack of teaching resources and activities to support your school run the programme up to an entire academic year.
  • Ongoing support from your Community Engagement Lead.
  • Funding of up to £2,000 to help you deliver the project

How it works

Your school will be supported by an experienced Community Engagement Lead, who will work alongside a Lead Teacher in your school to deliver the programme as an extra-curricular opportunity during a term and time of your choice. 

  • Form a Good Life Group, explore the Good Life vs. the Goods Life
  • Create a Good Life project, gather support for your projects
  • Put your Good Life projects into action, celebrate and share your story

Please see below for more information or visit Good Life Schools. There is a short online information session taking place on Wednesday 30 April at 3.30-4.00pm featuring colleagues from GAP, SHU and at least one school running the programme this year. To sign up please use this link.

In the meantime if you have any question please email Lee Jowett (Sheffield Hallam University) or Sian Buckley (Global Action Plan).

Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists – Resources

Last updated: 29/5/25

Slides from teacher training (online March 2025)
Recording of teacher training
Joint teacher-researcher training (face to face – 11 and 17 March 2025)
Key terms on climate change, sustainability and biodiversity loss
Planning document – for five sessions
Scanned planning sheet examples
Researcher/Teacher/Mentor pairings

Primary Science National Curriculum document


Explorify! website

***Cover lists for all topics (being updated)

Biodiversity topic
Trail cameras – how they work and investigating wildlife
Record wildlife on your site | Education Nature Park
Using the Seek app to identify wildlife | Education Nature Park
Biodiversity bar charts | Education Nature Park 
Hidden Nature Challenge | Education Nature Park

Additional: Mapping your site | Education Nature Park suite of activities if you are keen to explore your habitats

Air quality topic
What are lichens and how they measure air quality in the UK?
What Can Lichens Tell Us about Air Quality? – Lichens guide
What Can Lichens Tell Us about Air Quality? – Lichens activity
What Can Lichens Tell Us about Air Quality? – Tree guide
Link to STEM Learning – What Can Lichens Tell Us about Air Quality? original resources
Indoor air quality monitoring (CO2) activity suggestions
Activities that can alter CO2 and can be investigated

Sustainable drainage (SuDS) topic
Investigating rain and sustainable drainage activity guidance sheets
School rainwater survey
SuDS Top Trumps
SuDS wordsearch
Great video showing water runoff in soil (LinkedIn post)

Energy efficiency topic topic
How thermal cameras work
Thermal camera imaging and iPad imaging
FLIROne camera guide
Coffee cups insulation activity

Energy generation topic
Solar explorer kit information
Solar explorer kit lesson cards

Climate Leaders’ Conference – 6 March 2025

Below you will find presentation slides, workshop slides and flyers which have been provided.

Keynotes

Keynote presentations (research and school leaders) and Climate Action Plan workshop

Workshops – session 1

National Education Nature Park (and flyer)
DECSY
Climate Dice
Energy Heroes (and flyer)
Carbon Literacy
Global Action Plan

Workshops – session 2

Eco-Schools Carbon Calculator
Energy Sparks
Solar for Schools
Earth Warriors (flyer)
Designing Sustainable Schools – Permaculture(flyer) and presentation
Another Way (and flyer)
Green Schools Project

Stalls and other information

Twinkl – Eco Adventures and Carbon Literacy
Royal Society Partnership Grants flyer
Living Streets flyer
Family Hubs – secondary project and primary science lesson
Climate Ambassadors
ReThink Food
ProVeg Canteen to Classroom flyer and School Plates flyer

EcoTeachMeet on Tuesday 4 February 2025 – 4.30pm onwards

Please see below the speakers, topics and slides (where relevant) – a great diverse and interest group of topics!   

  • Lee Jowett – Sheffield Hallam University – promotion of The Royal Society ‘Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists‘ programme for primary schools in South Yorkshire & Climate Leaders’ Conference update (5 mins) Slides
  • Elena Clark – Another Way –  An introduction to Another Way  and about our schools work with Power of 10 (15 mins) – Slides
  • Lauren Mysiw & Kayla Thompson – Sheffield Family Hubs/Breastfeeding in Sheffield – Promotion of the Infant Feeding team educational offer and signing up to the Breastfeeding in Sheffield ‘Breastfeeding Friendly Award’ for public spaces and employers (15 mins) – Slides
  • Sian Buckley – Global Action Plan – information and promotion about the Good Life Schools programme currently being delivered and recruiting for 2025/26 in Sheffield (15 mins) – Slides
  • John Bray-  Discovery Outdoors  – Learning outdoors and connecting with nature and green spaces in Sheffield (15 mins) – Slides
  • Sasha Beswick- Barnsley College – 2030 SDG game and other activities/opportunity  (5 mins) (no slides)
  • Michala Sullivan – National Energy Agency – fully funded workshops for KS3 – KS5 (5 mins) – Slides

If you would like a link to the TeachMeet, please complete this short eForm. A calendar invite will be sent nearer the time, so please block out in your calendar. 

TOMORROW’S CLIMATE SCIENTISTS – researchers’ page

Royal Society Partnership Programme

A programme funded by the Royal Society

For researchers: work with a primary school in South Yorkshire to investigate an age-appropriate theme of climate change and sustainability

Audience: Researchers and Lecturers (including PhD students) in Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield who have an interest in climate change and sustainability

Research topics: Air quality, energy generation, energy efficiency, flood management and biodiversity (you do not need to be an expert in any of these topics to participate)

Programme outline

February-March 2025

  • CPD researcher training – 1-hour online training and 2-hour virtual workshop (delivered by the Climate Ambassadors programme)
  • CPD with your allocated teacher –  1 day face to face training and planning at Sheffield Hallam University

April-July 2025 (dates to be agreed between pair)

  • 3 in school activities with your teacher partner/students (up to 2 hours)
  • 2 virtual activities with your teacher partner/students (up to an hour)
  • Ongoing support, as required from a mentor at SHU

Autumn 2025

  • Information session to apply for further funding

Researcher commitments

  • Researcher to attend online and face to face training sessions
  • Participate in 5 activities with their teacher partner
  • Meet with a mentor mid-programme
  • Engage with surveys and evaluation of the programme

Researchers will be asked to select preferred training dates and a preferred research topic on signing up.

Researchers will  be able to claim up £75 for travel expenses, however we are unable to fund academic time. You will need to sign up to become a Climate Ambassador and complete a DBS check.

Further funding is available to apply for a Partnership Grant from the Royal Society once you have completed this programme.

Sign up using this link by Friday 31 Jan 2025

TOMORROW’S CLIMATE SCIENTISTS – schools’ page

Royal Society Partnership Programme

A programme funded by the Royal Society

For schools: Work with your students and a researcher from Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) or the University of Sheffield to investigate an age-appropriate theme of climate change and sustainability

Audience: Primary school teachers (including infant and junior schools) in South Yorkshire

Research topics: Air quality, energy generation, energy efficiency, flood management and biodiversity

Programme outline

February-March 2025

April-July 2025 (dates to be agreed between pair)

  • 3 in school activities with your researcher and students (up to 2 hours)
  • 2 virtual activities with your researcher and students (up to an hour)
  • Ongoing support, as required from a mentor at SHU
  • CPD teacher training – 2-hour virtual twilight workshop
  • CPD with your allocated researcher –  1 day face to face training and planning at Sheffield Hallam University

Autumn 2025

  • Information session to apply for further funding

School commitments

  • A member of staff to attend twilight and training session
  • Participate in 5 activities with their class and researcher
  • Meet with a mentor mid-programme
  • Engage with surveys and evaluation of the programme

School staff will be asked to select preferred training dates and research topic. We will endeavour to match you with a researcher interested in the same research topic.

Schools will receive £300 to cover supply costs as well as project equipment loan. Researchers will be trained on how to work with schools (via the Climate Ambassadors) and will hold a valid DBS.

Further funding is available to apply for a Partnership Grant from the Royal Society once you have completed this programme.

Sign up using this link by Friday 31 Jan 2025

I’ve spent a year speaking to schools — here’s why climate change must be in the new national curriculum

By Lee Jowett
Climate Change and Sustainability Research Fellow
Sheffield Institute of Education

In July, the new Labour government announced a review of the national curriculum. Two of its stated aims are to ‘ensure children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work’, and to ‘reflect the issues … of our society.’

Today is the last day for submitting evidence which I am currently in the process of doing myself, my usual tact of leaving things to the last minute!

If the review is to succeed in these aims, it cannot ignore climate change — arguably the defining issue of our age, and certainly key to many jobs of the future as the UK moves towards net zero.

Over the last year, I have been interviewing senior leaders and teachers in primary schools, secondary schools, further education colleges and local authorities to find out how climate change is currently taught. I have discovered a lot of great work, instigated by passionate staff members.

But in all of my conversations, one thing was clear — for climate change to be given the time and attention it requires, it must be embedded in the curriculum.

The current situation — an inconsistent picture

The Department for Education brought out a climate change strategy in 2021, but crucially it wasn’t mandatory. This has meant that — with so many competing priorities and all the demands of the mandatory elements of the curriculum — many schools are only dimly aware of it.

Of course, schools and their staff recognise climate change as one of the most important challenges facing our species, and therefore they want to teach it to our children. But this is happening almost despite government policy, rather than because of it.

One headteacher told me, ‘The whole curriculum needs a massive overhaul, and schools shouldn’t be so outcome-driven. Climate change is as important as reading and maths. There’s no point in being able to read, write or do the times tables if we’re all living off rubbish heaps.’

In all of my conversations with educators, nearly every one of them has singled out a lack of time and space in the curriculum as a key barrier to teaching climate change.

It means current efforts at climate education are piecemeal and inconsistent, largely driven by the heroic efforts of individual members of staff rather than an overarching strategy. There are great initiatives happening, but whether your child will get to experience them currently depends entirely on where they go to school.

Interestingly, in the further education colleges I spoke to, sustainability was much more embedded in the curriculum. This is because these institutions tend to collaborate with employers, who need college leavers with these skills.

But the college staff I spoke to said that students were coming to them with a lack of awareness, because it’s not taught to the same level in primary and secondary schools.

Learning from success stories

The good news is that in all of the schools I spoke to, there was excellent work happening around sustainability and climate education.

From the Tiny Forests and Edible Playgrounds projects which help schools make the most of their outdoor space, to the EcoSchools scheme for schools, children and young people across the country are taking part in practical, solution-focused climate programmes.

Alongside these national schemes, I found that local authorities can make a huge difference. Leicester City Council are the shining example. Their Sustainable Schools team provides free support to all Leicester schools, focusing on carbon reduction and increasing biodiversity on school grounds.

They also run a huge number of projects that schools can take part in, including Less Litter for Leicester, the Mealbarrow food-growing competition, and Sustainable Drainage Systems for Schools. As a result of all this work, Leicester has the highest number of Eco-Schools Green Flag Awards of any unitary authority in England.

So what can we learn from the best examples of schools teaching climate change and sustainability well? From my conversations, two things stand out as crucial to these success stories.

The first must-have is a passionate sustainability lead with the remit to oversee climate education across the whole school. Sometimes this is a teacher, sometimes a group of teachers, and occasionally it’s part of a wider leadership role. One eco-lead told me, ‘You need to have someone who’s willing to really champion it, to make it easier for the rest of the staff to engage in the projects.’

The second is senior leadership who recognise the importance of climate education and give it the time and institutional backing needed. Without this, climate change risks being lost among other priorities.

One college leader told me, ‘It is successful at our college because everybody from the board down has bought into it. When I’m speaking to colleagues from other settings, sometimes they haven’t got that whole organisational buy-in. They’re always battling against it because although it’s a good idea, it’s seen as an add-on.’

What needs to be done

The current climate change strategy needs to be strengthened. It talks a lot about buildings and procurement, but not so much about teaching and learning. The curriculum and assessment review is an opportunity to change this, and provide the political will to truly embed climate education in our schools.

Again and again in my interviews, teachers said they didn’t have time to focus on climate. This could be resolved by slimming down the overall curriculum. Teachers also need time to be trained in climate education and sustainability, so they have the confidence to deliver it.

Finally, climate education must be made a mandatory part of the curriculum. Having a sustainability lead in each school would mean it is embedded in all decision-making, in a similar way to safeguarding. This is already happening in the best examples I spoke to, but it needs to be rolled out nationally. Having attended one of the live events in Doncaster yesterday, I was encouraged to hear colleagues asking for climate change and sustainability to be part of the national curriculum. Becky Francis herself reflected on climate change and sustainability being a theme across many of the events. 

Climate change should become a golden thread that runs throughout the curriculum. It’s what the teachers I have spoken to want. And it’s what our children and young people deserve.

Lee Jowett is a Climate Change and Sustainability Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University. Previously he worked for a local authority and has been a secondary school science teacher. He can be contacted on l.jowett@shu.ac.uk