Boarders' Corner - an update from Mr S

An overview by Turner Houseparent Mr Scriven

At Monday‘s assembly, Ms Green divulged the theme for this half term has been taking care of ourselves. This week began with a focus upon COP26, in that we can look after ourselves by looking after the planet. It will come as no surprise that this latest UN conference on climate change has led to issues such as sustainability, carbon footprints and the use of fossil fuels being brought very much to the fore over recent days.

Boarders at Godstowe have for a long time been doing their bit for the environment. Here in Turner, as in the other boarding houses, the girls are avid recyclers of paper, card, hard and soft plastics, glass and they have recently added crisp packets to the list of waste items which no longer make it to landfill.  Unwanted bedding is recycled at the local Asda, to raise money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Outgrown home clothes are donated to the local church, who in turn pass them on to families in need in High Wycombe. Even plastic milk bottle tops are given a second chance through being donated to a local artist who uses them as part of her collages. Environmental monitors carry out the sorting tasks daily in return for a bedtime extension on a Friday night.

This week, all of the borders went around school after supper to gauge the level of unnecessary energy usage ‘after hours’. The findings were interesting: many of the lights in such an old building were found to be efficient, having been fitted with motion sensors.  The heating in the main part of school was found to be switched off at night, another plus for the planet.

What the girls did notice clearly fell into three major categories:

• desktop computers and interactive whiteboards left on standby
• windows left open overnight
• lights left on in certain areas, such as corridors, changing rooms and cupboards

Asked to formulate solutions to these problems, the girls came up with some astute observations. In response to the stand-by problem, would it be possible, for example, for the ICT technicians to automatically turn off all of the classroom computers and whiteboards via a timer? This already happens in some areas, but the timing could be adjusted to maximise its impact. 

Should cleaning staff be asked to close windows and doors as part of their routine and should there be an effort made to change the culture throughout the school, whereby every member of the school community is allowed, and indeed encouraged, to switch off lights in empty rooms, rather than leaving it to named individuals?

Whilst the girls understand that they do not have all the answers, it has been interesting to watch this week as they chose to make little changes to their routines. ‘Small actions carried out by a lot of people can make a difference’ was the message what’s the girls took away with them.

After all, it is they who will have to live well after COP26 has ended.