Children and staff have been working hard this week to take extra measures to reduce our energy usage in school in recognition of the national Energy Saving Week campaign, which aims to help and encourage people to save energy while cutting down on fuel costs at the same time. The event was created in partnership with Citizen’s Advice, the Energy Saving Trust and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Many other organisations and charities often support the campaign, too.
The children were introduced to some energy saving activity ideas during an assembly at the beginning of last week, sent by the Carbon Neutral team at United Learning. The first action they were asked to take was to complete the first of three energy meter readings – Year 5 and the Site Team got straight on the job! By taking the first meter reading on Wednesday, January 8th, and the second reading on Wednesday, January 15th, we were able to establish a baseline for energy usage during a typical school week. The second reading was then compared with the final meter reading on January 22nd to determine how much energy was saved during Energy Saving Week. The school that has made the biggest saving in the week is set to win a prize!
Other activities the children were encouraged to do included to ‘Find your phantom devices’, ‘Turn off for the weekend’ and ‘Turn it down Tuesday’ where the heating had to be turned down by 1-2degrees centigrade. They were reminded to shut doors, turn off lights and help teachers remember too! Mrs Clark, our head of Science, has been sharing lots of hints and tips for energy saving that the children can also try at home.