Take part in Surrey’s Climate Resilient Schools Training

Schools should be a safe and comfortable place for our children to learn and play, however many classrooms are increasingly overheating and flooded school grounds make it unsafe for children to play or for parents to even get to the front door. Aging infrastructure means schools were not designed to cope with excessive rainfall and rising temperatures, with many surrounded by large areas of black playgrounds which further retains the heat.

These only stand to get worse due to a changing climate which predicts twice as many properties in Surrey being at risk of flooding within the next 20 years, wildfires will become more common and extreme and our local nature will continue to decline due to poor habitat quality and fragmentation.

However, there are lots of ways these issues can be addressed. But it can be hard for a school to know where to start and what their best options are. The Resilient Schools Training run by Surrey County Council (SCC) aims to support schools to feel more informed and confident to act.

Over 45 schools have already taken part in the course to understand what practical measures they can be doing to protect their school and students. The online training course starts from the beginning, explaining the science behind our changing climate regardless of your knowledge of the topic. This is then put into context to understand how this can impact schools, before moving onto the practical steps you can be doing to minimise this risk and protect your school. The course also includes lots of case studies to inspire you to act, highlighting the additional benefits that can help make your school a more enjoyable place to work, play and learn.

The e-course is only 1.5 hours long, and is open to all school staff, although particularly relevant to business managers and grounds managers, wanting to learn more about how to make their school more resilient to extreme weather such as flooding and overheating

Learn about the science behind climate change and how it is, and will continue to, impact schools
Be inspired by other schools already taking action to protect their school and students
Understand how to develop an Adaptation Action Plan, which will enable you to go step by step and look at the various areas across your school that could be impacted
Embrace other benefits of making your school more climate resilient, such as greener, more biodiverse spaces that improve mental wellbeing and outdoor learning
Understand how climate resilience can be embedded into your school culture through the Eco-schools programme