Sustainability and Nature

Climate and Nature Education 

Graveney is proud to be a Green Flag Eco-School; we won the award with Distinction in 2024. We are committed to: promoting sustainability and connectedness to nature; educating about and offering hopeful solutions to the climate crisis across all areas; linking the climate and nature crisis with social justice;  supporting and empowering our students to be ambassadors for the planet.

LEAF Club and extra-corricular activites

We have a thriving community of students who work outside of lessons on on-going projects and initiatives. Our eco-club is called LEAF and encompasses students from year 7 to year 13. They meet twice a week for gardening, vegetable and fruit-growing, lots of chat and many other activities.  This is their latest newsletter. (insert the Spring leaflet).

 Curriculum

At Graveney we work to deliver a Climate and Nature education that will ensure our students are comprehensively informed about these important issues as well as inspired and empowered to take positive and impactful action. 

We aim for the curriculum to be issues-led but solution-focussed with student voice playing an ongoing role in the development of the curriculum. Through the curriculum we seek to develop students’ sense of empowerment and self-image as changemakers through positive action.

You can read our statement here, and see the three key principles which are guiding our work on climate and nature within the curriculum. (Insert the climate and nature statement)

Graveney is also a Pioneer School in partnership with UCL on their pilot programme Teaching for Sustainable Futures.  Geography and English are partnering up for a cross-curricular topic ‘Is A River Alive?’ for year 7 - other subject areas will be joining soon.

Environment Week

In June, Graveney’s Environment Week is already well established.  Across the whole school, at least one lesson per teacher has a specific environmental focus in this week.  A wide range of guest speakers are invited to deliver talks and workshops with the aim of inspiring students to consider green careers in engineering, politics, science and the arts. (Read a full report in the Spring Leaflet above). There are also opportunities to take part in bike maintenance, clothes swapping and gardening.

The Climate Action Plan 2025-2026

Guided by Let’s Go Zero https://letsgozero.org/, Graveney has devised a detailed Climate Action Plan which you can read here.  (Insert link)  This comprehensive plan covers everything from energy efficiency  to biodiversity to green careers for students.

Bertha Earth

Graveney is a Partner School on the Bertha Earth project. Each year, 30 year 7s have the opportunity to join a year-long Ambassador programme of workshops, trips and a week-long retreat on a farm. The Bertha Earth mission is to grow a diverse network of young environmental leaders, storytellers and change makers who reignite a great love for our planet.  You can read about it here https://berthaearth.com/