Environmental Sustainability

Education, Students, Staff and Community

For students, staff and community members to be aware of environmental issues and have the knowledge and skills to be able to make informed decisions around their lifestyle to live sustainability.

Waste and Recycling

To minimise and actively manage waste through elimination, reduction, reuse and recycling across our academies.

Energy and Water

To conserve water through efficient use and management, and to reduce energy use and our carbon emissions to be carbon neutral.

Travel and Transport

To provide viable and accessible sustainable travel options for staff and students for travel to and from work, and travel for work which results in a reduction of carbon emissions. Students and staff should always endeavour to use the greenest mode of transport.

Procurement

To positively influence the sustainability performance of suppliers and the sustainability credentials of the goods and services we purchase.

Academies and Buildings

To reduce the environmental sustainability impacts of our construction and refurbishment projects and ensuring that all Oasis Community Learning buildings are operating at their optimum efficiency.

Communication

To facilitate opportunities where staff, students and the community can develop and share their knowledge, skills and experience to engage with and contribute effectively to achieving Oasis Community Learning’s environmental and sustainability aspirations.

ICT

To reduce the environmental and sustainability impacts of our IT infrastructure across the organisation.

Working with Eden, we have installed 4419 solar panels across 13 of our sites so far, with one more academy due to receive 845 solar panels this Easter (2023). By installing these systems we are generating renewable electricity which helps directly reduce our carbon footprint, energy bills and equips our academies with real life data to use in teaching. We are currently in the planning stage for Phase 2, to install more solar panels on more academy roofs.

As of November 2022, all our academies we supply energy to are using 100% renewable electricity. SmartestEnergy supply this through our contract with Zenergi. This switch is an important step in our journey towards Net Zero as there are zero emissions associated with this type of energy consumption.

Since the introduction of Oasis Horizons in 2020, we have deployed 34,520 iPads to all of our students and staff across the Trust. In the first few months of the 2021/22 academic year, we have saved 240 trees in paper and the amount of energy equivalent to running 304 residential fridges through natural reductions of printing. The iPads also have a much lower power consumption than desktop computers, which will continue to reduce our energy consumption significantly.

At the end of 2022 our energy partner, Zenergi, visited 11 of our academies to perform an in depth energy audit of our buildings and the behaviours of those that use them. We are now reviewing the findings of these to make sure we are increasing their energy efficiency and lowering our carbon footprint as a result. Some of the changes we will need to make are around our buildings like insulation and window replacements, others are around our behaviours like ensuring our heating is only on when we need it and ensuring all equipment is switched off out of school hours. These changes will take time, but bit by bit we can make a huge difference.

We are working with our catering partners, to minimise food waste in our academy kitchens and will soon have separate food waste collections at all academies to make sure this type of waste is disposed of in the most responsible manner.

Currently we send zero waste to landfill, a huge win for the environment! But we know we can do better, both to reduce the volume of waste we produce and to reuse and recycle as much as possible. We are working closely with our newly appointed waste contractor, Veolia, to make this happen.

We have introduced Eco-Champions in each of our academies who meet every half term to share ideas and support each other in making change in their own settings. Many of our Eco-Champions run eco clubs made up of climate-passionate students and lots of our academies have been running their own sustainability weeks to spread the word and turn ideas into actions.

Members of our Environmental and Sustainability Working Group are working with our National Curriculum team to ensure environmental sustainability is built into the new Oasis Curriculum.

Our regularly updated internal Environmental and Sustainability portal shares fantastic news stories from our academies and what is happening worldwide.

Finally, in January, we welcomed our first ever National Environmental and Sustainability Manager to Oasis Community Learning. This role will support our national team as well as our staff and students in becoming a more environmentally responsible trust. We are really excited by this new appointment and big plans are in the works, so watch this space!

Eden is a rooftop solar specialist which invests in projects across organisations such as schools and businesses, and is committed to developing, investing in, and operating sustainable renewable energy assets that perform effectively over the long-term. Eden is also part of a broader group which includes social housing and sustainable tourism and the Pickwell Foundation, which makes donations to Climate Change and People Displacement causes globally.

The initial fourteen academies in this project are; Oasis Academy Connaught, Henderson Avenue, Immingham, Isle of Sheppey Minster, Isle of Sheppey Sheerness, John Williams, Lister Park, MediaCityUK, New Oak, Parkwood, Short Heath, Wintringham, Byron, and Woodview. Phase two to install more panels on more academies is in planning.

To help reach our goal of Net Zero and bring awareness to the environmental impact our food has, Sodexo, our catering partner, has introduced carbon-labelled school meals at 12 secondary Oasis Academies. This follows a successful trial in 2022 which saw a significant uptake in low carbon options such as chickpea curry and white bean chilli.

The food industry accounts for around 30% of all greenhouse gases emitted around the world. Studies suggest this figure could be cut in half if more people were encouraged to think more about how much CO2e they put on their plates and adapt their diets to introduce more climate-smart food to mealtimes.

As a provider of more than 100,000 school meals per day in the UK, Sodexo has a responsibility, and a desire, to promote sustainable food choices and play an active role in empowering young people to choose more CO2e friendly dishes. At both our trial academies, we saw a fantastic improvement of meal choices by our students, helping us to be more sustainable on our our journey to net-zero. The results from the trial are also helping to inform ongoing menu development.

With the help of government funding and our partner, eEnergy, we are switching all non-LED lighting within our academies (including outdoor spaces) to LED lightbulbs. eEnergy share our vision of a Net Zero society, they have already commenced this huge project and by the end of August 2023, all of our lightbulbs will be energy efficient.

LED lightbulbs use around 80% less electricity than traditional (non-LED) bulbs and can last 6-50 times longer, making them more efficient. Once we’ve made the switch we will consume much less energy, reducing our impact on climate change. Because we won’t need to change the lightbulbs as frequently, we’ll also be creating less waste too.

Part of being more sustainable is making sure we’re being cost-effective and safer. By using LEDs we will also save money on our energy costs, particularly important whilst energy prices remain significantly high, and reduce the risk of exposure to chemicals that are found in old fluorescent lightbulbs. Win win!

Alongside this project we will also be introducing ‘switch off’ stickers around academies to help promote more energy efficient behaviours amongst staff and students too.