At Brannel we prepare our students for life in modern Britain by equipping them to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society.
Green Charter
As a school we are doing our bit to help address climate change. In collaboration with all the other secondary schools across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly we have drawn up a Green Charter for Schools. We hope that this will be driven by students through our Eco-Council and as part of the Brannel Challenge.
The charter has two over-arching aims:
As educators, we are committed to teach our young people to be environmentally literate and to develop their knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to practice and promote sustainability in their community.
As organisations, we are committed to ensure any decisions we make about our working practice take into account the impact on the environment, with the aim of adopting sustainable practices wherever possible.
To achieve our aims, we have agreed to do the following:
- Collectively declare a climate emergency in September 2019.
- Attend the 2019 Cornwall Schools’ Eco-Conference and any subsequent conferences.
- Gain Eco-School status within two years, then maintain it thereafter.
- Significantly reduce the use of single-use plastic with the aim of becoming ‘plastic free’.
- Create a garden, pond, orchard, vegetable plot, bee hive and/or farm on site.
- Promote the benefits of eating less meat and aim to have a regular meat-free day.
- Engage with parents & the local community to promote sustainable action in the home.
- Engage with another school (nationally or internationally) about action in schools.
- Support Cornwall Council’s aim to become carbon neutral where possible by reducing energy consumption by at least 10%, using some form of renewable energy source on site and buying energy from renewable suppliers.
- Explore ways to lessen the impact of petrol and diesel vehicles on the environment.
Declaration of Climate Emergency
On Friday 20th September 2019, Brannel School, in collaboration with all secondary schools in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, formally agreed to declare a climate emergency. The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our planet and future generations. To have a significant impact we need to do more than make symbolic statements – we need to turn warm words into impactful actions. We have made a commitment to the Green Charter for Schools and we will do all that we can to achieve its aims.
Earth Hour 2021
Our Eco-Council created a short video to raise awareness of Earth Hour 2021. The annual event took place just a few months before crucial climate and nature conferences in 2021, Earth Hour sent an unmissable message to world leaders that millions of people around the globe demand urgent action in tackling our planet’s biggest environmental challenges.
The Eco Patch
Designed by innovative local architects Märraum our school farm opened its doors for September 2021. ‘The Eco Patch’, as it has been named, will inject new life into learning outdoors. The development includes a new outdoor learning classroom and miniature smallholding with pigs, chickens, ducks and other small animals.
The Eco-Patch is a pathfinder. It is intended to be an inspirational space which joins up the delivery of complimentary programmes for animal care, outdoor learning, health and wellbeing, and environmental education in order to maximise the learning potential of our environment and our pupils. The building has been designed with a sustainable ethos in mind in both materiality and form.
View a short video of the Eco Patch design.
