Students from all six schools within the Activate Learning Education Trust (ALET) got together for a day of collaboration at the historic Maison Française d’Oxford.
The event, which took place on Friday 9 May at the historic Oxford building, brought together student leadership teams to explore sustainability within the Trust, and examine how ALET’s five core attributes – Resilient, Enterprising, Confident, Aware and Professional – can help shape the future of education.
Representatives from The Bicester School, UTC Reading, UTC Oxfordshire, UTC Swindon, UTC Heathrow and Theale Green School spent the day sharing ideas and learning from one another in sustainability-focused initiatives.
The Maison Française, established in 1946 by the University of Paris and the University of Oxford, provided an excellent backdrop for the day’s conversations, with its historical ties to academic excellence and global exchange.
Empowering future leaders
The event began with an icebreaker, where the students sat in cross-school working groups and discussed how they ran their school councils. There was lots of enthusiasm for ‘borrowing’ UTC Heathrow’s fantastic cultural day in their own schools!
ALET CEO Jo Harper then spoke to the room, highlighting the urgency of environmental action in all areas and the pivotal role young people play in driving change.
“You are our future leaders,” she said, “and you will make a huge difference in terms of the sustainability agenda, therefore your ideas are really important.”
She added that this cross-school collaboration will contribute to ALET’s five-year strategy, which places student leadership, sustainability and values-driven education at its core. Empowering students to have their say on sustainability helps build a culture of shared purpose across all ALET schools – preparing young people to be thoughtful, capable leaders.
Leaning on an inspiration quote from Muhammad Ali reflecting his belief in the importance of helping others and giving back to the community as a fundamental part of life, Jo told the room: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”
Meaning of sustainability
Students were set their first task – what does sustainability mean to you? – which they discussed in groups. Loads of ideas came from that – many of which need STEM minded people to implement – including preserving life, benefitting the Earth, energy usage, creativity and innovation to adapt to changing climate, better understanding of minorities, meeting global food needs, small acts making an impact…
The students brought different ideas, but their goals were the same – they want to work for a greener future.
ALET’s attributes in action
Students were then asked to reflect on ALET’s attributes – Resilient, Enterprising, Confident, Aware and Professional. These attributes come up daily in many ways in ALET schools, but this question aimed to dig deeper into their understanding of the terms.
They were then asked which of these attributes they thought were most relevant to sustainable behaviours, with Aware being the most popular answer. Some of the points to come out of the discussion around attributes included:
- Resilient – Persistence in tackling sustainability challenges, even when solutions aren’t straightforward and the news seems gloomy.
- Enterprising – Proposing innovative ideas to solve problems.
- Confident – Confidence in knowing your actions are making a difference and having the courage to speak out even if it goes against what others are saying.
- Aware – Understanding global and local environmental impacts, and acting responsibly.
- Professional – Presenting ideas clearly and collaborating with all types of people; also understanding you may be acting professionally but not for an eco-friendly company.
Jo Harper commented on the ideas generated by the student leaders. “The students have responded with energy and purpose and this is what education is about.”
Looking ahead
By the end of the day, each school committed to at least one sustainability goal to take back and implement. These include:
- Cultural Day/Week to better improve understanding of minorities
- Volunteering Club, perhaps as part of DofE, to help with things like litter picking or helping in local parks.
- Encouraging walking to school or taking public transport using a merit system.
- Talent shows, assemblies and sport to promote good mental health.
- Finance experts to come in regularly to talk to students about the changing world.
It is hoped that this event is the first of several planned cross-school leadership gatherings, aiming to deepen collaboration and amplifying student voice across the Trust.
What the students had to say
Maddie, a Year 12 student from Theale Green School, said: “This experience has been great, talking with new people and getting all their perspectives. Everyone I talked to is quite passionate about sustainability, and there’s always that one person who has something completely different to say. And that can change the direction the conversation goes in.”
Aryish, head of the student council, at UTC Swindon said: “I think having the students collaborate their ideas for the future of the school is really important, because if the students aren’t happy they’re not going to want to stay. And it’s important to talk about sustainability in education as you’re building the steps that students will take become more mindful in the future.”
Ceici, a Year 11 student from UTC Swindon said: “Sustainability is important to talk about in schools because not only is it something we’re going to grow up into, it’s something we’re going to have to try and solve. We don’t want to leave the world in a state for future generations.”
Annabel, a Year 10 student, from UTC Oxfordshire said: “I liked making some new friends today. Talking about sustainability is a good thing because something you can think I can’t do anything about that, but hearing other people’s ideas can make you aware of the things you can do.”
Suhana, a Year 12 student from UTC Heathrow said: “It’s a great idea to get all the schools together – I liked hearing how they all ran the student councils.”
Fleur, a Year 10 student from UTC Reading said: “Sustainability is really important to me because it’s our future. We’ve got to change our behaviours and it’s been interesting talking about how to do that at school.”
Zara, a Year 7 student from The Bicester School said: “It was fun to interact with other schools and seeing their ideas. I like the idea of a cultural day. It was interesting talking about sustainability – it is something that comes up a lot at our school, like in RS lessons.”
