Sustainability Leadership
Sustainability Leadership
By 2025, every school must have a nominated sustainability lead and a climate action plan in place. Is your school ready?
The DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for Education makes sustainability a core expectation, not a “nice to have.” For already stretched school leaders and staff, developing a meaningful strategy can feel overwhelming. That’s where the 1st Pillar can help.
We work with schools and trusts to create climate action plans and sustainability strategies that are practical, achievable, and fully aligned with DfE guidance.
Why Sustainability Matters
Sustainability in education goes far beyond recycling bins and energy-efficient lighting. True sustainability is about embedding environmental responsibility, social impact, and financial resilience into the very culture of your school.
As School Business Leaders, you are uniquely positioned to lead this work, with oversight of budgets, estates, operations, and procurement, you have the power to make real change. But without the right framework, sustainability can quickly become another initiative that struggles to gain traction.
Our role is to help you move beyond token gestures and make sustainability part of your long-term school improvement plan.
How We Support You
We offer tailored support to help your school or trust develop and embed a sustainability strategy that works. This can include:
- Workshops and training for staff, governors, and trustees to build shared understanding
- Templates and toolkits that make it easy for everyone to work towards common goals
- Strategic planning sessions to align sustainability with your financial and operational priorities
- Partnership support with senior and central teams to embed change and engage pupils in success
- Ongoing mentoring to review progress, embed early wins, and prepare for long-term goals
Partnering with Experts
1st Pillar partners with Helen Burge of Buoyant Impact, one of the UK’s leading sustainability advisors for schools and trusts. With extensive expertise in education and sustainability leadership, Helen provides schools with the tools, confidence, and insight needed to build strategies that last.
Together, we bring both business leadership and specialist sustainability expertise, ensuring your plan is not only compliant with DfE expectations but also impactful for your pupils and community.
Are You Serious About Sustainability?
The reality is that sustainability is now a duty, not an option. Schools that act now will not only meet statutory requirements but also gain long-term benefits: reduced costs, improved reputation, engaged pupils, and stronger community trust.
The question is: how serious is your leadership team about sustainability?
