Information for Schools

There are many initiatives schools can get involved in to encourage their pupils and families to live more sustainably, please find links below for schemes your school could participate in.

Eco Schools

The Eco-Schools programme is "a simple, seven-step framework that guides, empowers and motivates pupils to drive change and improve environmental awareness in their school, local community and beyond."

"When a school, nursery or college has worked through each of the Seven Steps, they can then apply for Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is international and recognised by organisations such as UNESCO. It is a symbol of a school’s commitment to environmental education."

Let's Go Zero

Let's Go Zero is the national campaign uniting teachers, pupils, parents and their schools as they all work together to be zero carbon by 2030. Every school that signs up is pledging to work towards a more sustainable future while calling for much-needed government support to help all schools reach their zero carbon goals.

Travel to School

Encouraging students to use active travel modes to journey to and from school has many advantages; improved air quality, increased fitness, reduced carbon footprint, reduced financial cost and reduced traffic congestion around schools.

There are initiatives to encourage students to travel using active travel modes such as:

Walk to School Week - an annual campaign organised by Living Streets taking place in May to encourage families to walk to school.

Bike to School Week - an annal campaign organised by Sustrans which takes place at the end of September/early October.

Surrey County Council have a Safer Travel Team who will work with schools to reduce nearby road congestion and create a safer and healthier environment. More information can be found here.

Mums for Lungs

Mums for Lungs is a London-based campaign group, pushing for action on improving air quality. There are some excellent resources on their website including leaflets and posters about engine idling and School Streets.

School Streets

A School Street is a road outside a school with a temporary restriction on motorised traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times. The restriction applies to school traffic and through traffic. The result is a safer, healthier and pleasant environment for everyone. There currently aren't any active School Street schemes in the borough of Epsom and Ewell, however there are some active trials in Surrey and schemes have been very successful elsewhere in the country.

Further information about School Streets can be found on the School Streets website and Mums for Lungs School Streets webpage.

Other School Initiatives

Science4Society Week

Science4Society Week is organised annually in March by Scientists for Global Responsibility and has some great resources and events on sustainability and environmental topics. For more information please check the Science4Society website.

Tree Council Young Tree Champions Programme

The Tree Council have a Young Tree Champion programme, in which schools can sign up to explore the resources and training webinars on offer, and work towards Beacon school status.