Reach2 sustainability strategy

At Reach2, we are committed to revolutionising our approach to sustainability. By empowering our children to become environmental ambassadors, we will ignite their potential to effect positive change. Our objectives are clear:

• Empower all our children with the knowledge to comprehend environmental sustainability and empower them to champion change.
• By 2027, significantly diminish our carbon footprint.
• Implement environmental initiatives that champion, conserve, and enrich local biodiversity.
   

To achieve these goals, we will:

• Ensure each school devises a sustainability action plan, placing ecological literacy and environmental sustainability at the core of its curriculum.
• Aid all REAch2 schools in attaining nationally recognised Eco-Awards by fostering rich biodiverse environments.
• Engage all our children in community endeavours to foster positive environmental action in their surroundings.
• Diminish our carbon footprint by enhancing infrastructure and embracing environmentally conscious procurement processes.
• Invest in our staff to obtain accreditation in environmental sustainability.
• Embrace various activities that reconnect our children with nature, nurturing their stewardship of the environment.

Sustainability in the curriculum at Riverside Academy

As part of the Reach2 sustainability strategy, Riverside Academy has begun it’s journey in developing our curriculum to empower all our children with the knowledge to comprehend environmental sustainability and to become agents of change.

Our curriculum has been developed with experts, based on research, and, as one of the Reach2 sustainability pilot schools, we have been able to work with CAPE (Climate Adapted Pathways for Education), Learning through Landscapes, Natural History Museum and National Geographic Society to develop the content and sequencing of our curriculum.

Curriculum development

Forssten Seiser et al. (2022) state that ‘education for sustainable development calls for an education that empowers students, both in the long and short terms, by enhancing their action competences and their awareness of how to contribute to positive sustainable changes.’

We have begun adapting our curriculum to allow climate change education to be taught within each subject area. Currently the geography and science curricula are being developed and, by September 2024, both subjects will have climate change education integrated across every year group.

In summer term 2024, children in Year 3-6 will be taking part in a global research project carried out by Bishop's University, Québec. This project  - “Making room for climate emotions in the classroom” - aims to implement a 4-week program to address climate change and emotions through art (drawing, photography, collage) and group discussions. This curriculum development plays an important part in climate change education as we acknowledge that we need to support children with coping with eco-anxiety.

Curriculum opportunities

During autumn term 2023, we asked our children how they wanted to develop our outdoor environment. From pupil voice we then asked the school community to vote from the options that the children had suggested. In February 2024, we secured funding to develop our outdoor area. In the academic year 2024-2025, the children will lead a research project titled: Does the development of a pond at Riverside Academy increase the biodiversity?

    

Through this project, the whole school will carry out scientific observations and data collections at designated intervals during the year. The children will research how to design and build a pond and will be project managing the development of a school pond on site. We aim to make our school grounds a haven for wildlife, which is used within the school curriculum to enhance the children’s climate change education knowledge and love of nature.

After-school enrichment

We are proud of our outdoor areas that have been developed and maintained by the children. We have:

•  a sensory garden
•  poly tunnel
• wildflower areas
• allotment areas
• wild wood

 Our weekly gardening club develops the children’s knowledge in growing their own produce and seasonality. This in turn reduces our school’s carbon footprint as we sell our produce to our school community and use it within our curriculum.