November Newsletter

Posted 8 hours ago in News

Hello Eco-Coordinator!

Welcome to November’s Eco-Schools update featuring the launch of Cut Your Carbon 2025!

Cut Your Carbon 2025!

Cut Your Carbon is our annual, month-long challenge designed to raise awareness of carbon emissions and show how small, everyday changes can make a big difference for our planet and future generations.

Not registered yet? No problem! There’s still plenty of time to join in. Registration is quick and easy, and once you’re signed up you’ll have instant access to all the free resources you need to run the campaign successfully. You’ll then have until 15 January to submit your participation figures and calculate your emission reductions.

Delivery Steps

Cut Your Carbon is designed to be simple and stress-free for schools to deliver. Minimal prep, maximum impact!

Here’s how it works in 4 easy steps:

Register your school for the campaign.
Kick things off with an assembly and share the challenge checklist with pupils.
Give students a month to complete as many challenges as they can.
Log in to the Cut Your Carbon website to submit your results and see your carbon savings.

Great for Green Flag

Cut Your Carbon doesn’t just raise awareness and reduce emissions, it’s also fantastic evidence for your Green Flag application. It can be used as one of your Action Plan projects, or as proof of expanding your Eco-Schools impacts into your local community for Step 5: Informing and Involving.

Haven’t started your Green Flag application yet? Now’s the perfect time! Our online platform has been given a glow up and there’s new features and resources to get stuck into too! Click here to begin your Green Flag application.

Impact Calculator

The biggest update to this year’s Cut Your Carbon campaign is the introduction of its new microsite: https://cutyourcarbon.eco-schools.org.uk/. This site brings everything you need to deliver the campaign into one easy-to-access hub. The most exciting update is instant carbon calculations! When you log in and share how many members of your school community completed each challenge, the site will automatically estimate your carbon reductions, giving you a clear picture of the difference your whole school is making and providing a benchmark for future years!

Extra Events

Every year we run supplementary Cut Your Carbon events and this year is no exception! Here’s what’s coming up:

Introduction to Carbon Literacy: Build understanding of carbon emissions and climate action.
Count Your Carbon Tutorial: Learn how to calculate your setting’s carbon footprint.
Storytime with Bethan Woolvin: The fantastic author and illustrator will read These Are My Rocks, provide a behind-the-scenes studio tour, and set a creative challenge for pupils.

Sign up to book your spot!

Win a Bespoke Mural

To celebrate everyone who takes part in Cut Your Carbon and promotes carbon-saving behaviours in their communities, we’re bringing back our prize draw! All settings that register for the campaign and submit their participation figures will be entered into a draw to win a bespoke mural for their school or nursery. The talented Billy Colours will be one of the artists offering their services having collaborated with us last year to paint the stunning mural (pictured) for one of our lucky winners!

Eco-Schools Training

There’s still time to register for our final Autumn Term Eco-Schools and Early Years training sessions.
Get an introduction to the programme, practical advice on Steps 1–3, and inspiring best-practice examples. This free training will give you the confidence to work towards your Green Flag and lead youth-led environmental action in your setting.

Renewal Discount

If you earned a Green Flag last year, you can still claim a 15% discount on your 2026 renewal. Just start your renewal application and score 30 points by answering questions in any order across any sections (including the bonus ones) before the deadline, which has been extended to midnight, 1st December due to earlier email issues. We’ll then notify you in early December if you qualify.

Group Admin Support

We’ve updated the Eco-Schools Portal for Group Admins! Group admins are anyone that support groups of schools or nurseries with their Eco-Schools work. A group admin could be for local authorities, academy trusts, nursery chains, or dioceses. If you or someone you know supports environmental work across a group of settings, get in touch to learn how the portal makes managing multiple settings easier.

New: Eco-Projects

Alongside our regular annual resource updates, this year we’ve launched 10 brand-new Eco-Projects, ready-to-go initiatives designed by the Eco-Schools Team. These projects can be added directly to your Action Plan or adapted to suit the needs of your setting.
Each project includes:

A clear explanation of the environmental issue it addresses
Simple delivery steps
Links to green skills and careers
Ideas for curriculum connections

Every month, we’ll spotlight one of these projects and first up is Traffic Light to Save Energy. With electricity supply responsible for around 10% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, this project encourages energy-saving behaviours by labelling devices and light switches, empowering young people to take ownership of their school’s energy use. Click here to explore the project, or head to Step 3 of your application and click Resources to access all 10 new Eco-Projects.

What Else is Happening?

Plastic Clever Schools. This Friday (7th November) is the Plastic Clever Schools International Day of Action. Through hands-on activities, assemblies, and workshops, schools across the globe will unite to empower young people to tackle plastic pollution head-on. Registration is quick and free. Click the link below for more information.
Ovo Foundation Nature Prize. Ovo Foundation and Let’s Go Zero are inviting schools across the UK to submit ideas for nature-based projects focused on one of three themes: adaptation and resilience, community engagement, or green skills development. Thirty winning schools will each receive a £500 cash prize to bring their ideas to life. Entries close on Monday 17th November.
Living Streets. Active travel experts Living Streets are delivering free online assemblies for primary schools on 19th and 20th November. Their We Walk With Confidence assembly highlights how walking to school benefits communities, teaches children how to walk and wheel safely, and features quizzes, discussions, and interactive activities