Sustainability and ecology are vitally important; in business, at home and in our children’s education. At New Town we pride ourselves on our dedicated approach to environmentally driven education and community engagement. The journey to that goal of sustainability begins with educating our students about their impact in the world as agents of powerful change, and preparing them for the new world they will inherit.

Our pupils are involved in active learning about the environment. We’ve filled our library with books that celebrate and share amazing facts about the Earth and environmental movement leaders like Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough.  Our reading libraries must be mirrors to the world they are growing up in, and highlight the sustained contribution made by so many inspiring people to make change happen despite the odds.

Students feel most powerful and engaged when they connect their own lives to what’s going on in the world. Sustainability topics are a focus in every school year groups; the complexity of issues covered increases as the children become older.

Examples of some of the topics covered include:

Foundation Stage classes focus on recycling and the impact of waste on their local environment, as well as visiting the farm in person to learn about how food is produced from farm to fork.

In Year One children learn about protecting the oceans, and how wildlife is affected by pollution and human activity.

Year Two learn about the loss of animal habitats in the local area and beyond.

Food miles and fairtrade is studied by pupils in Year Three who calculate what it takes to get our food to us, and how this can effectively be reduced.

The effect of human activity on the Polar regions is a focus for Year Four, who research what is being done to reduce the damage and protect these special places.

In Year Five children find out how Reading can become more 'green' than it currently is, discussing the benefits of this for local communities.

Year Six students write powerful pieces of the devastating effects of deforestation and its global effect on climate change.

Rubbish exists. It is all around us. Food waste is the biggest occupant of landfills in the UK. At New Town we recycle everything we are able to and have invested in new bins in every space to help make this as efficient and effective as possible for everyone who uses the building. All card, paper, metal and plastic is sent for recycling. Food waste is sent for specialist recycling, but we also try to work with our catering provider and the children to reduce the food waste we produce. Finally, all fruit waste and tea bags go to our schools very own vermicomposting (worm bins) where we make our own compost.

Teaching children about the food they eat takes on a whole new meaning when they grow it themselves. Gardening offers students healthy food, and a deeper appreciation for their environment. Improved health and wellbeing; better attention levels in class, higher academic achievement and strengthening links with the local community are just some of the ways gardening helps our school flourish. Gardening and Nature Club invites children to grown and learn more about our green spaces, and our Eco-Warriors Club helps those who want to be agents of change, to consider how they can lead others in this quest.

For our children, promoting walking to school is another component part of our sustainability voyage. We encourage pupils to walk, scoot or cycle to school safely.

We have produced a Climate Change and Sustainability Action Plan to span the next 2 years, which you can read below.

Children are the future and are great agents of change. We believe actively encouraging them, both educationally and socially, to be part of a sustainability framework can give them a life-long love of nature as well as a sense of shared responsibility for the planet and their local community.