Clifton College Finalist for BSA Sustainability in Boarding Award

We are delighted to be named as a finalist for the Boarding Schools’ Association new ‘Sustainability in Boarding Award’.

New for 2024, this award recognises the efforts made by boarding schools to make a meaningful and positive environmental impact both in school and within the local community.

Across the College, we have a broad range of sustainability initiatives and pupil-led programmes in place to allow students to be central to College direction, giving them agency to create change in their community and empowering them to drive changes in values and attitudes. A new student-chaired committee feeds ideas into the wider College sustainability committee to support this.

The SEEd Young Change Makers Programme offers 25 students a chance to complete a one-year programme to gain a deeper understanding of sustainability and manage new projects. These include an educational podcast series interviewing eminent voices in sustainability, a student-written newsletter and compost and wormery using waste from boarding houses to produce plant food. Students from the programme have spent time in the Prep School inspiring younger pupils with their work.

In the background, the College is also setting its own sustainable targets. This year for the first time, we are completing our first baseline carbon audit (Scope 1 to 3) identifying where our environmental harm lies. This allows us to have a more directed approach to reducing our impact.

Collectively, we are pulling together not just to provide our pupils with skills for the modern world, but also ensuring the College is playing its part in building a more sustainable world for present and future Cliftonians.

Mr Bates, Assistant Head Sustainability said: “To be a finalist for Sustainability in Boarding is a huge achievement by all involved across the College, I’m delighted that the hard work of our pupils and staff is being recognised in this way. We all have a shared interest in preparing our pupils for a rapidly changing modern world, but at the same time, we have to do what we can to ensure they have a world to pass on to their children. I hope this nomination will further inspire our pupils and staff to continue their amazing work. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far.”

In line with celebrating Earth Day this week all our morning chapel services have a sustainability focus and we are very excited and proud to share the first edition of the pupil-produced sustainability newsletter ‘Eco-Clifton’, celebrating positive sustainability news. It has been created by students through the SEEd Young Change Makers Programme in order to help improve education and awareness within the school, both about what progress is being made within the school as well as around the world.

Please take the time to read this fantastic publication (below).