At Walsall Academy we’ve taken the Let’s Go Zero pledge, declaring our aim to become zero carbon by 2030. We’re joining schools across the UK for a second year in this national campaign to show the overwhelming support for zero carbon schools, and inviting government and local councils to work with us to reach this goal.
We have a dedicated Eco Club, made up of members of staff from a range of departments, including MFL, Science, Design Technology and Humanities and a committed group of students form all year groups. Eco Club are delighted to have been awarded the internationally recognised ‘Green Flag’ award with distinction for our environmental work in 2021-22. The Head of Keeping Britain Tidy, Francis Hyland, who judged our application, commended us highly on the creation of our Jubilee Garden, for our collaboration with the Superbloom at the Tower of London, our work with Let’s Go Zero and our planting of almost 150 trees for the Queen’s Green Canopy.
Amongst many positive comments, Francis said,
‘This kind of work is a good example of the collaborative approach we will all need to adopt to help protect and improve our environment – your application made us feel really positive for the future!’
Here is a link showing the creation of our Jubilee Garden
We are also incredibly excited to have been awarded one of the Queen’s trees from the ‘Tree of Trees’ that was outside Buckingham Palace as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Our Silver Birch tree will be planted in the Jubilee Garden. We feel incredibly honored to be one of the recipients of these 350 trees as a thank you for our work towards creating a more sustainable world.
Have a read of our awarding letter here.
We know that schools can be the trailblazers for their community, responding to young people’s calls for action. In fact, they can inspire whole communities to tackle the climate crisis. In the coming pivotal ‘climate decade,’ we will be part of Let’s Go Zero’s national network of schools and sustainability organisations, sharing information about how to reach zero carbon, and working with local councils and government to make it happen.
We’re committing to cutting carbon in a number of key areas. Here are some of the things we’ve already done / are planning to do:
- LED lighting throughout the Academy (inside and outside)
- Solar panels have been installed
- Six electric charge points installed to encourage staff to invest in EV
- Food waste composted
- Locally sourced food prioritised
- Energy saving assessment throughout the supply chain
- Planting of diverse flowering species of plant to attract pollinators
- Growing our own vegetables and herbs for Hospitality and Catering
- ‘Meat free Monday’
By joining the Let’s Go Zero campaign and committing to becoming a zero-carbon school, we’re taking a positive step on a local level to help combat the climate issues we all face globally. It sends a strong message to our whole school and community that together we can safeguard our planet for future generations.
Find out more about the Let’s Go Zero campaign here: https://letsgozero.org/.
Please view the interesting video links below which outline the work we have been carrying out:
Walsall Academy Eco-Club – A BBC Midlands Today Broadcast – 2 November 2021
Walsall Academy’s Eco Club tackles climate change – A BBC digital short
