HEART Academies Trust is a four school Trust located in Bedford Borough. In 2022, as the world emerged from the worst of the Covid pandemic, the HEART Executive Team made the decision to present a new vision and set of aspirations for how to take the Trust forward. Their proposal was to place action on climate and sustainability – alongside ethical leadership and inclusivity – at the centre of all future decision-making. HEART Trustees, recognising the importance of climate action in building a better future for children, serving local communities and improving the environment for everyone, agreed to the proposal and signed up to the National Governance Association (NGA) Greener Governance Pledge. The HEART leadership team rewrote the Trust Development Plan to encompass climate action. School Development Plans were similarly updated. The Trust signed the Let’s Go Zero campaign pledge to be carbon zero by 2030. All school staff have received training on climate action including cleaning and catering staff. This has led to:
- Working with local food charities to eliminate food waste
- Removing single use plastic
- Increasing vegetarian options on menus
The Trust engaged PlanetMark to support measurement of its carbon footprint and provide additional guidance in the development of its climate strategy and action plans. The current academic year – 2022/23 – was defined as a new baseline to help measure future improvement. A collaboration with Energy Sparks helped provide data about when energy was being used and areas of potential waste. Localised electricity meters were subsequently installed to provide more granular detail. All of the Trust’s schools have worked climate and sustainability education throughout their curriculum. In 2023/24 HEART schools will work with the Greener Schools Project to further embed climate learning for all children. At the core of climate action at HEART is support from Trustees, support from senior leaders, an openness to learning and working hard to make sure people feel included. There is a huge amount of work still to do but if each day is a small step forward then over time we are confident we can deliver on our ambitions and hopefully support many other schools and trusts to do the same.
