How sustainable is our school?

Sustainability has always been one of the pillars of the Arbor school, and one of my catch cries whilst speaking with parents or touring prospective families has always been that we cannot be sustainable 'within these four walls'. Sustainability is a community practice, we need to not only educate our children about strategies to contribute towards a culture of sustainability, but also to engage families and the wider community in the move towards sustainable practices. It is a strange paradox, that it is only through accepting that 'enough is enough', i.e. excepting a measure of sufficiency, that we will ever achieve 'enough for all forever', i.e. a measure of abundance.

Actions of course should always commence locally even if the eventual impact is wider afield, and it is with this in mind that we welcome Metanoia (metanoia-eco.com) to the Arbor School next week. Whilst we have continuously be reviewing and adjusting our systems and consumption, to make significant change, an in depth audit to gain an understanding of where we can make the biggest impact is required, be it the food system, waste reduction, energy, or transport. As a school we will therefore be making a commitment to tough decisions and tradeoffs without compromising on the quality of education, but also asking our community to consider their choices, and provide information that will help us to understand where we can act or ask you to act.

Metanoia is a Greek word meaning “a transformation of heart and mind leading to a?change in behaviour“.?As sustainability consultants to schools, they will provide?a?whole-school sustainability audit which will result not only in an actionable set of data, but also?authentic project-based learning opportunities to?support the growth of the Arbor school.

I look forward to gathering your thoughts over the coming weeks, and sharing the eventual results with you. Please keep an eye on social media and Frog for further opportunities to engage with Metanoia, to learn from them and help us to arm ourselves with the data we need to initiate change.

Sincerely

Brett Girven

Principal of the Arbor School