The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have a webpage that summarises their policies for sustainable development. click here

The Government in England wants every school to be a sustainable school by 2020. This has eight gateways: food and drink, water and energy, travel and traffic, purchasing and waste, buildings and grounds, inclusion and participation, local well being and global dimension. ‘Sustainability offers schools a useful umbrella under which a range of initiatives and policies can be pursued in an integrated way.’

‘Enhancing opportunities for all pupils to participate in decision-making has important contributions to make to a sustainable school and a sustainable community. The citizenship curriculum has emerged as an effective way to develop pupils as active citizens.’

The first step for schools is to sign-up to the sustainable schools website. This has an area for each school to report on what they are doing, to record the names of their steering committee and to have access to online tools that will help children and teachers to monitor starting points and progress.

Case studies of sustainable schools promoting sudent voice: click here
Participation and student voice is an integral part of becoming a sustainable school, reflecting the values of inclusion, diversity, identity, equality, participation and rights.

The DCSF have funded four partners – We Are What We Do, the National Children’s Bureau, Groundwork and Envision – to undertake projects that will work with young people to develop them as young sustainability activists - click here

Other supporting areas for sustainability include:

The Eco-schools Award, has integrated its criteria so that they fit neatly with sustainable schools. The active citizenship component is that it is all driven by an action team that includes students representing their years and the school…

Joining the Eco-Schools programme is free and it makes tackling sustainable issues manageable and easy for all schools, whether they are children’s centres, nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools or schools with special status. Once registered, schools follow a simple seven-step process which helps them to address a variety of environmental themes, ranging from litter and waste to healthy living and biodiversity - click here

Growing Schools – learning in the living environment that supports children learning about food and farming, including the managed countryside; gardens, gardening and green spaces; wildlife and the natural environment promotes schools growing projects – click here

Learning Outside the Classroom, has a manifesto and a website of resources based on the values: ‘We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances’. - click here

Learning Through Landscapes helps schools and early years settings make the most of their outdoor spaces for play and learning. School grounds are essential to children’s learning and development, providing opportunities for healthy exercise, creative play, making friends, learning through doing and getting in touch with the natural world. We believe all children have the right to enjoy and benefit from well designed, managed and used school grounds.
An annual event you could celebrate in your school is ‘National School Grounds Week’ 8-12th June 2009 - click here