Sustainability

Very Proud to be Sustainably KES Prep

We are halfway through our first ever four-year Sustainability Plan to help the School community take practical steps to reduce its footprint.  Set up in 2022, we have run a range of projects and schemes to tackle four keys areas:

• energy efficiency and creation
• food waste reduction
• reduce, reuse, recycle
• nature recovery

Our first big fundraising project was to buy a Ridan food composter. This, alongside a project to reduce food waste, enables us to turn what waste we have left into useable compost for the School, while teaching the children how compost is made.

The four-year sustainability plan was launched by children enjoying a wide range of learning outside the classroom activities including: weaving woven petals that will be used to mark out wildflower meadows next Spring; basket making; and insect and honey tasting.

This was followed by KES Prep's very first Green Fair: we welcomed a number of independent stalls from wildlife charities Hampshire and the IOW Trust and Hampshire Swifts, to independent artists selling arts and crafts. The Test Valley Council promoted recycling and SA Energy demonstrated solar energy. We also offered an Electronic Car Information Area for visitors to speak to people who own electric cards, alongside a “Children’s Outdoor Kit swap and costume sale”.

Learning Outside the Classroom is not a new concept at KES Prep; we annually hold a Learning Outside the Classroom Day where the whole school embraces the spirit of the Outdoor Classroom concept. And as part of our continuous drive to embed and further develop sustainability, our Wildlife Ranger Mr Caie has been focussing on unlocking the potential of our extensive outdoor areas, whilst developing the curriculum of sustainability across all year groups.

We have also begun the development of our beautiful 22 acres of outdoor spaces, with several areas of woodland getting a new lease of life with pathway restoration, seating areas and hedgerows. Other areas are being left to recover organically as part of a wider rewilding effort. 

Mr Caie has also constructed a wildlife hide nestled into a forgotten corner of the grounds, in which children have been able to get closer to our wildlife and have an outdoor hub to use in wetter weather.

We have been awarded the ‘Council for Learning Outside the Classroom’ (CLOtC) Silver Award, a national accreditation that has been endorsed by the Department for Education, and is working towards its Gold Award.

KES Prep has also been praised for outstanding achievement in sustainable development education and management, and continually improves the environmental performance of the School and the wider community.

Ongoing projects include gardening clubs, planting an orchard in the school grounds and further energy saving and charity initiatives.