​Moulsford Prep School launches new Sustainability Policy

Moulsford Prep School in Oxfordshire has launched a new Sustainability Policy to make living more sustainably an intrinsic part of the school’s ethos.

The launch of the Sustainability Policy coincides with Moulford's annual Arts Week. It is designed to tie in with and highlight the issues which will be discussed at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) currently taking place in Glasgow, hosted by the UK in conjunction with Italy.

Moulsford’s Sustainability Policy pledges to integrate and address environmental sustainability in eleven key areas: Education, Energy, Water, Waste, Buildings & Grounds, Catering, Sports & Activities, Classroom Equipment, Transport, Events and Community. Each of these areas has been detailed into Aims, Actions and Impact to provide clear focus and measurable targets.

Headmaster Ben Beardmore-Gray commented, “The goal of our Sustainability Policy is to make living more sustainably an intrinsic part of the school’s ethos, so Moulsford becomes an institution where all members of the community are properly educated about this key issue and aware of the part each one of us plays in safeguarding and protecting the future of our planet.”

With sustainability also providing the theme for Arts Week, Moulsford pupils have been participating in various events to highlight the importance of the new school policy and the actions that every member of the school – boys, staff, parents and governors – can take to help Moulsford in its aim to become more sustainable.

Kicking off with a whole school interactive Assembly in which the Sustainability policy details were presented alongside videos and slides to explain the effects of climate change, the boys moved onto workshops run by 'Green Up Your Act', an organisation which takes a creative, hands on approach to environmental education.

In preparation for Arts Week, all boys have contributed to an Art Exhibition with artworks focussing on four ways in which we can live more sustainably: Plant More Trees, Help The Bees, Use the Breeze and Save Our Seas.

Year 5 gave two excellent performances of the play ‘One Planet Future’, which provided the audience with much food for thought on the subject of rubbish, landfill, and rewilding.

Two Musical Soirées entertained parents with live music in the school theatre for the first time in nearly two years. The choir’s performance of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ reinforced the Sustainability message.

Head of DT at Moulsford, Jess Roberts, who is spearheading the Sustainability Project said, “Climate change is a very real threat to our way of life and I would like Moulsford, as a community, to recognise this and do whatever we can do to be part of the solution. Educating ourselves and our boys about such matters is the biggest thing we can do right now.”