Sustainability

At the David Ross Education Trust, we are committed to building a greener, more sustainable future for our students, staff and communities. Every academy plays a part in reducing our environmental impact and inspiring young people to take positive action for the planet. On this page, you’ll find our school’s Climate Action Plan along with updates on projects and activities that showcase how we are putting sustainability into practice.

Academy Climate Action Plan

Climate_Action_Plan_Falconers_Hill_Academy.pdf

Current Projects & Activities

Windows Project 2026

This term we have revisited our work and understanding of sustainability. Y3, Y4 and Y5 completed projects to show their understanding how their own area immediate might change. We looked at a book called ‘Window’ by Jeannie Baker. In this book a boy’s view from his window changes over 20 years. We looked outside an FHA window and marvelled at the lovely rolling green hills and trees. We then imagined that developers decided to build on a nearby field. We recorded our work in creative and innovative ways.

View from our window

Year 5 creating views using shoeboxes and old magazines

Year 5 worked collaboratively in groups of 3. They were given a shoebox and asked to use magazines to create an image showing change. They found it tricky at first to find the colours they needed but got there in the end!

This is a Year 5 description of the book

Year 3

We talked about the fact this people do need houses, shops, factories, schools, hospitals etc. We recognised that we all can play our part by recycling, using local products (to reduce our carbon footprint)

Year 3 used plastic lids and acrylic pens to create their images.

These will be added to the window in the Gallery so they can be seen from the inside and the outside.

The children drew circles and plotted how the view would change over time.

The children wrote poems to think about what they could see

Through my window

Through my window I can see lots of cars driving past me.

Through my window I can see lots of people walking past me.

Through my window I can see lots of skyscrapers towering over me.

Through my window I can see lots of airplanes flying over me.

Y3 & Y4 – views from the window

This activity was complete using recycled paper, card and acrylic pens. The children had an image FHA grounds and add their ideas about how the landscape might change.

Sustainability at Falconer’s Hill Academy

Falconer’s Hill Academy have undertaken a whole school project on sustainability. We shared the same PowerPoint and completed this work at the same time. We decided it was important that we all learnt to speak in the same shared language so we were able to hold conversations across all years. We decided that different classes would research different aspects of sustainability. The children created whole school displays as a permanent reminder and discussion point.

We pass through Sustainability Row daily. In our reading for pleasure sessions, we encourage classes to explore our sustainability library.

Sustainability Road

Reviewing our usage

We asked the children to collect recyclables over half term. We were surprised how much we collected in a week. We hoped pupils would be vigilant in recycling at home. The children were very focused on ending single use water bottles and paper cups.

Reading around sustainability

We have emerged ourselves in sustainability by reading a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. The children have enjoyed focussing of this topic during their reading for pleasure sessions.

Our sustainability library

These are some of our favourites.

Window by Jeanne Baker
The Green Giant by Katie Cottle
The Great Paper Caper – Oliver Jeffers
Eart Heroes Lily Dyu
Climate Action Georgian stevens
Climate Rebels Ber Lerwill
Flooded Maria Jo
The Last Bear Hannah Gold
The rhythm of the rain – Grahame Baker Smith
Climate Action

Protest Party

Year 5 had great fun planning a demonstration around the school. The children created posters, chants and marched around the school to get their message across

Recycling Robot!

We built our own recycling robot using catering sized cans from the kitchen, left over insulation, used bulbs and a unwanted vegetable rack. The fairy lights are only on briefly but they help to get people to look at our displays. We launched a competition to name the robot. Lots of entries were received but in the end, we decided to just call it ROBOT.

What do you think this recycling robot should be called?
Can you create a miniature recycling robot at home using recycled materials?
Can you share picture with us?
Can you create your own design using recycled materials ?
Maybe you could write a story about the robot?
Could you write a poem about recycling?

We awarded these books as prizes to the children who made their own recycling robot

The Brilliant Recycling Project Book: Recycle old socks and toilet rolls into marvellous makes! : Stanford, Sara
Recycle and Remake: Creative Projects for Eco Kids
I Am Not An Eggbox - The Recycling Project Book: 10 Amazing Things to Make with Egg Boxes
The Amazing Recycling Project Book: Recycle egg and cereal boxes into marvellous makes!

Recycling a tree

Early in September we had to cut down a tree. The tree sadly was diseased and needed to be felled for safety reasons. At Falconers we do not anything. We are fortunate that our tree surgeon was happy to make something we could use for a long time. We made a log sofa, borders for planting, stepping stones in our woodland path.

Making use of old tyres!

Reducing our carbon footprint- food

We decided last year to build our own allotment. We have grown our own fruit and vegetables to understand how this can help reduce our carbon footprint. Year 3 looked at packaging of their different fruits produce and learned all about how far they had travelled.

Useful Websites

What is sustainability? - BBC Bitesize

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

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