Sustainability
At St Dunstan’s College, we are passionate about creating a sustainable future. Our new Environmental Policy, which was written by staff, pupils and members of our local community, was launched in 2021 and focuses on the following, overarching strategies:
1. To reduce the negative impact that our estates and facilities have on the environment.
2. To significantly reduce our carbon footprint, as part of our journey to becoming carbon neutral.
3. To educate ourselves and others on sustainability through effective collaboration, communication, and curriculum content.We are working with a local company, RAFT, on reducing our carbon footprint through retrofit projects on our old buildings. The company has provided a number of exciting workshops, including a focus on architecture and thermal imaging to review the heat loss from various buildings.
Our new Junior School, STEM block and Sixth Form Centre achieved a 'BREEAM excellent' classification. A high priority was given to more sustainable construction methods, which were used to reduce the environmental impact, both during construction and for the life of the building thereafter. Examples include Brick Slip cladding, PV panels, intelligent BMS systems and LED lighting.
Our pupils are also leading the way with our target to significantly increase the biodiversity across our sites. Through the College Parliament, Sustainability Committee and Eco Society the young people plan, design and manage many areas around the College, including two large ponds (which are teeming with frogs, snails and newts), various wildflower beds, untouched wild areas, and herb and vegetable gardens.
All lights in the 19th Century buildings have been replaced with energy efficient LEDs and automatic shutdown software ensures that computers, TVs and projectors are turned off overnight.
An expert environmentalist is employed by our Catering Company to ensure that waste is reduced to the lowest possible quantity and reused to create energy. Single use plastic has been removed from our catering provision completely. Menus include a weekly 'meat free' day and many of the pupils across the College willingly select the vegetarian and vegan options.
Environmental assemblies are a regular feature in the calendar, as are sustainability Themes of the Week. Pupils collaborate on these topics regularly and drive positive change across our organisation. Pupils are passionate about creating a 'no waste' culture and many encourage thrifting, selling and sharing clothes and equipment. Sustainability Top Tips are regularly displayed on our video wall and pupils attend high profile community meetings to drive positive change.