Secondary schools’ climate conference 2025

Published: 11 May 2026

The secondary schools’ conference was held on Tuesday 11 November at Bracknell and Wokingham College. 

The conference was delivered by Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd).

Schools involved

Forty-one students from the following 8 schools were in attendance:

  • King’s Academy Easthampstead Park
  • King’s Academy Binfield
  • Kennel Lane School
  • Sandhurst School
  • Brakenhale School
  • Edgbarrow School
  • Garth Hill College
  • St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Programme

The secondary schools’ conference featured a series of talks from different stakeholders. There were also roundtable discussions. 

The final set of roundtable discussions let students identify and discuss sustainability issues that were important to them. They then developed goals and actions for their own schools.

Students could also engage with community groups, local charities and the council, who had stands at the conference. 

Two students stand alongside a speaker at the Secondary Schools Climate Conference. One of the students is speaking into a microphone.
A group of students at the Secondary School climate conference sitting around a table making notes on large pieces of paper.
Students talk to a man at a stand from Solar for schools. They stand beside a banner which says "clean energy for brighter classrooms", and there is a model solar panel on the desk.
Students add brightly coloured post-it notes to boards.

The sustainability issues that were identified and discussed by the students were:

  • reducing plastic waste and overconsumption
  • habitat loss and deforestation in the area
  • improving biodiversity
  • air, land, and water pollution
  • nature and our mental and physical health 
     
A woman gives a talk to a group of teenagers. She stands with her arms wide, excitedly talking. Behind her is a sign which reads "Sustainability and environmental education".

Climate action plans

The following climate action plans were identified and created by the secondary schools:

Brackenhale School

Logo - Brackenhale School
  1. Improve plastic waste recycling and repurposing.
  2. Solve the on-site litter problem.
  3. Develop our outdoor green space.
  4. Create wildlife habitat zones

Edgbarrow School

Logo - Edgbarrow School
  1. Install solar panels to generate our own renewable electricity and help lower school bills.
  2. Place more labelled recycling bins around the school to encourage better waste management, stop littering, and improve student awareness. 
     

King’s Academy Binfield

Logo: King's Academy Binfield
  1. Improve our site’s biodiversity by electing ‘Eco-representatives’ and allocating land for plants.
  2. Create an allotment for students to grow their own food.
  3. Improve the school’s recycling and encourage reusing materials and reducing consumption. 
     

King’s Academy Easthampstead Park

Logo - King's Academy Easthampstead Park
  1. Install solar panels on the school.
  2. Create a nature club who will plant a school garden.
  3. Reduce water consumption by adding a timer and low-water fittings on taps.
  4. Improve site ecology by placing bird houses and bug hotels around the school grounds.
  5. Allocate days dedicated to whole school projects themed around sustainability.
  6. Implement smaller lunch portions to reduce food waste
     

Kennel Lane School

Logo: Kennel Lane School
  1. Install solar panels on the school to generate our own renewable energy.
  2. Reduce food waste.
  3. Create a citizenship day to allow students time to engage in sustainability projects.
  4. Establish a plant programme to improve the biodiversity of the school.
  5. Create dedicated wild areas at the back of the field to allow space for nature. 
     

Sandhurst School

Logo - Sandhurst school
  1. Weigh our food waste and set goals to reduce it.
  2. Establish lunch monitors who can check how much food is being wasted.
  3. Communicate to staff and parents to ask for support to reduce food waste. 
     

Garth Hill College

Logo: Garth Hill College
  1. Establish a sustainability day to engage all students.
  2. Create useful objects with our waste by investing in a plastic machine, for example to make pen holders out of plastic bottles.
  3. Use assemblies to raise awareness of sustainability issues and opportunities.
  4. Advertise Eco Rewards and other sustainability-based schemes.
  5. Create competitions.
  6. Collaborate with other schools.
  7. Label bins to make it easier to recycle waste.