Sustainability in primary schools: the DfE strategy explained

What is the DfE Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy?

The Department for Education's Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy is the national strategy for sustainability and climate change across the education and children's services systems in England. It was first published on 21 April 2022 and last updated in December 2023.

The strategy sets out a vision for the UK to become a world-leading education sector in sustainability and climate change by 2030. In England, the DfE frames this through four strategic aims:

• Excellence in education and skills for a changing world
• Net zero
• Resilience to climate change
• A better environment for future generations

For primary schools, this means sustainability is not only about reducing environmental impact. It is also about helping children understand the world they are growing up in and giving them the knowledge, habits and confidence to make positive choices. That fits naturally with primary education. Children learn best when big ideas are made practical, visible and connected to everyday life.

Why does the DfE strategy matter for primary schools?

The DfE strategy matters because it places sustainability within the core work of education, not outside it. Primary schools are in a strong position to shape children's early understanding of climate, nature, resources and responsibility. Lessons about plants, habitats, weather, food, materials, transport, water and local environments can all help pupils build environmental awareness long before they encounter sustainability as a formal policy concept.

The strategy also recognises that education settings can influence communities. A pupil who learns to reduce waste, save water or care for a school garden may carry those habits home. For teachers, this creates an opportunity to connect curriculum learning with practical action. For SLT, it creates a leadership challenge: how can sustainability be embedded without adding another heavy layer of work?

This is where schools need practical, education-shaped support. Hope Education is often a natural fit for primary sustainability work because the focus is on helping teachers turn ideas into meaningful classroom and outdoor learning. When resources, activities and displays are linked to curriculum goals, sustainability becomes easier to teach and easier for pupils to understand.

What are the four main aims of the DfE strategy?

The DfE's strategy is built around four main aims.

1. Excellence in education and skills for a changing world

This aim focuses on preparing children and young people for a world affected by climate change. In primary schools, this can include:

• Learning about habitats and biodiversity
• Understanding weather and seasons
• Exploring materials, recycling and waste
• Discussing food, growing and local environments
• Building early awareness of responsible choices

Teachers do not need to create a completely separate sustainability curriculum. Often, the strongest approach is to connect sustainability to existing science, geography, PSHE, English, art and design and technology lessons.

2. Net zero

The net zero aim focuses on reducing direct and indirect emissions from education and care buildings. For primary schools, this may involve reviewing:

• Energy use
• Heating and lighting routines
• Waste management
• Travel choices
• Procurement decisions
• Digital and paper use

Some of these decisions sit with SLT, site teams, governors or trust leaders. Others can be explored with pupils through eco councils, classroom monitors and whole-school campaigns.

3. Resilience to climate change

This aim focuses on preparing education buildings and systems for the effects of climate change. For primary schools, this may include considering:

• Shade in outdoor areas
• Ventilation
• Water use
• Flood risk
• Heat management
• Outdoor learning spaces

These issues are increasingly practical rather than theoretical. As schools experience hotter summers and more extreme weather, site planning and pupil wellbeing become part of the sustainability conversation.

4. A better environment for future generations

This aim focuses on enhancing biodiversity, improving air quality and increasing access to nature in and around education settings. In primary schools, this is often where pupils can see the most immediate impact. Examples include:

• Planting areas
• Wildlife habitats
• Bug hotels
• Outdoor reading spaces
• Nature trails
• School gardening projects
• Litter reduction campaigns

These projects work work well because they give children a visible sense of progress. A neglected corner of the playground can become a habitat. A blank outdoor area can become a growing space. A class project can become something the whole school uses.

How can primary schools turn the strategy into everyday action?

The DfE strategy can feel broad, so it helps to break it into manageable school actions. A useful starting point is to ask:

• What do we already do well?
• Where are we wasting resources?
• Which curriculum areas already include sustainability links?
• How can pupils take meaningful responsibility?
• What can we improve without creating unnecessary workload?

Many primary schools already have strong foundations. They may have recycling systems, outdoor learning areas, eco councils, science topics on plants and habitats, or geography units about local environments. The next step is often joining these together into a more coherent whole-school approach.

This is where Findel's broader understanding of school life is useful. Sustainability is not just a curriculum issue or a site issue. It involves teachers, senior leaders, school business managers, site staff, pupils and families. When schools treat it as a shared responsibility, rather than one person's project, it becomes more achievable.

What role do teachers play in school sustainability?

Teachers play a central role because they help pupils make sense of sustainability. A school may introduce energy-saving measures or biodiversity projects, but it is teachers who turn those actions into learning. In the classroom, sustainability can appear through:

• Science investigations
• Geography fieldwork
• Persuasive writing
• Data handling in maths
• Art projects using reused materials
• PSHE discussions about responsibility
• Reading books linked to nature and climate themes

The best sustainability teaching is age-appropriate, hopeful and practical. Primary pupils do not need to carry the emotional weight of global climate change. They need to understand that the natural world matters, that resources should be used carefully and that small actions can contribute to bigger change. Hope Education's strength in this space is the ability to support learning through practical resources, creative ideas and curriculum-linked activities. Sustainability in primary schools becomes more effective when children can see, touch, investigate, discuss and create, rather than simply being told what not to do.

What role do SLT and school business leaders play?

Senior leaders and school business leaders help turn sustainability from classroom enthusiasm into whole-school practice. This may involve:

• Reviewing energy and water use
• Reducing waste
• Considering sustainable procurement
• Supporting outdoor learning
• Planning site improvements
• Creating pupil leadership opportunities
• Building sustainability into school development planning

The ISBL sustainability standards are also relevant here. ISBL describes its sustainability standards as a framework to help school leaders embed sustainability and biodiversity work across operational areas, rather than treating climate action as a secondary consideration. For primary schools, that operational lens matters.

A sustainability strategy will not succeed if it depends entirely on one enthusiastic teacher. It needs leadership, routines, purchasing decisions and practical systems that make sustainable choices easier to maintain. Through GLS, schools can approach everyday procurement more consistently, particularly around classroom essentials, paper, display materials and practical resources. Sustainability is not only about buying differently, but procurement routines can either support or undermine a school's wider goals.

What practical sustainability ideas can primary schools start with?

Primary schools do not need to begin with an expensive project. Practical starting points include:

• Setting up or refreshing an eco council
• Creating classroom energy monitors
• Reducing unnecessary printing
• Reviewing recycling points
• Starting a school garden
• Creating a biodiversity area
• Running a water-saving campaign
• Using displays to track sustainability progress
• Linking assemblies to seasonal environmental themes
• Auditing classroom resources before reordering

The most effective ideas are usually simple enough to become habits. For example, a class might monitor whether lights and screens are switched off when not needed. A year group might investigate lunch waste. A school council might lead a campaign on caring for outdoor spaces. These actions are small, but they build pupil understanding through repetition and responsibility.

How can schools avoid making sustainability feel like extra work?

This is one of the most important questions for teachers and SLT. Sustainability should not become another disconnected initiative. Instead, it should be woven into what schools already do.

• A geography topic on the local area can include air quality or green spaces.
• A science unit on plants can connect with biodiversity.
• A maths lesson can use real data from energy or water use.
• A writing unit can include persuasive letters about reducing waste.
• A display board can track progress towards an eco goal.

This is where practical resource choices matter. Teachers are more likely to embed sustainability when the materials, activities and classroom prompts are easy to use and relevant to the curriculum. Findel's role across its education brands is strongest when it helps schools turn broad ambitions into manageable classroom and operational action.

How should primary schools measure progress?

Progress does not always need to be complex. Schools might track:

• Reduction in paper use
• Waste collected for recycling
• Number of pupils involved in eco activities
• Outdoor learning sessions delivered
• Biodiversity improvements
• Water-saving actions completed
• Energy-saving routines adopted
• Pupil voice feedback

Pupil involvement is particularly powerful. When children help collect data, compare results and present findings, sustainability becomes part of learning rather than simply a school management task. This also helps make progress visible. A sustainability display, assembly update or eco council newsletter can show the whole school community that actions are making a difference.

What should primary schools do first?

Start with one area that pupils can understand and staff can realistically maintain. For many schools, that might be waste, water, biodiversity, energy or outdoor learning. Choose one focus, link it to the curriculum, give pupils a role, make progress visible, then build from there.

The DfE's Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy gives schools the national direction, but the real work happens in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds, offices and staffrooms. Sustainability becomes meaningful when children can see that their school is not just talking about the future, but actively helping to shape it.