Nathalie Young (OLICAT Head of Operations) and Sarah Meeks (OLICAT School Improvement) were delighted to attend the Sustainbility Conference organised by The East & North Herts, Essex, Beds and Milton Keynes Science Learning Partnership and held at the University of Bedfordshire.

Sustainbility is a priority for us at the OLICAT Schools and it was a valuable opportunity to meet and share ideas with other educators, as well as hear from the excellent Keynote Speakers and take part in a variety of engaging workshops discussing biodiversity, climate education, learning through landscapes and decarbonisation. 

As educators, we all have a responsibility to embed sustainability within the curriculum, especially when we learn that only 4% of students know 'a lot' about Sustainability! It is a fine balance when we must also consider the issue of tackling Eco Anxiety in children and young people, whilst developing their involvement and accountability. Furthermore the fact that schools in the UK take up a space twice the size of Birmingham, which is a large percentage of our space, brings home the urgency of needing to address issues such as sustainability and biodiversity.

We are however confident that we have the structure in place now within OLICAT driven by our wonderful Eco Stewards in each school and with the support of the Diocesan meetings. Most importantly ideas and plans are already progressing to action and successful outcomes across the Trust. (Sarah Meeks, OLICAT School Improvement Team)

Find out more about Sustainability across the OLICAT Schools here