Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School recognises the climate emergency and is on a journey towards a low carbon, sustainable future. We are proud of what we have already achieved, but there is so much more still to do. By the end of 2025-26, we will have put in place a climate action plan which sets out further actions to reduce our carbon emissions, to reduce the risk of overheating as summers become increasingly warm, to increase the environmental awareness and skills of our children, and to improve our environment and biodiversity. 

Decarbonisation

What we have already done

We have reduced our annual gas consumption by 80% from 180,000kWH to 100,000kWH, reduced our annual electricity usage by 60% from 40,000kWh to 25,000kWh, installed automated water meter reading, fitted LED lighting throughout the school, installed a bike shed and scooter park to encourage more cycling, separated our waste streams, used only carbon neutral certified paper, redecorated classrooms with no-VOC paint, donated surplus to requirements furniture to the developing world, installed additional PIR sensors in low use areas, recycled uniform through the city’s uniform exchanges, increased the thermal performance of our roof, and procured responsibly wherever possible (e.g. buying second hand rather than new books for our library).

In May 2022, with the support of the Academy Trust and in partnership with Solar for Schools, we installed a 55kWp solar panel system on our roof. The system consists of 134 solar panels and meets around two-thirds of our electricity needs annually. Over its 25 year life, it will stop 226 tonnes of CO2 emissions, inspire our children with energy learning opportunities, and save tens of thousands of pounds by providing the school with free electricity. Click here to find out how our solar panels performed in the last week.

Our total carbon footprint is estimated to be 136 tonnes of CO2 (tCO2) per year. This is equivalent to a carbon footprint per pupil per year of 0.76 tCO2, compared to a primary school average of 0.95-1.26 (data taken from Count your Carbon scores of schools engaging with a Climate Action Advisor).

What we want to do

Our carbon reduction plan is included in the downloadable resources below. Our PTA, Friends of Sacred Heart, has already begun to implement a school uniform swap shop. Our Pupil Parliament is planning to debate whether to introduce more plant based days to the school menu. And we are seriously exploring the possibility of insulating our wall cavities in the next one to three years, which will help retain heat in winter and cool the building in the summer.

Adaption and resilience

Coming soon...

Environment and biodiversity

Coming soon...

Climate education

Coming soon...