Sustainability

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We are passionate about doing what we can to look after the natural world. Our children are leading the charge!

Welcome from our Head of Sustainability, Miss Graden

Miss Graden joined The Lyceum in September 2021 after previously teaching at a state school in Hoxton. Passionate about the outdoors, nature, and sustainability, she led the Eco Council in her previous role and is eager to bring that experience to The Lyceum.

In her personal life, she is dedicated to waste reduction and the circular economy, carefully sorting waste at home, buying and selling second-hand clothing, and thrifting in East London. She also attends biannual meetups at Dukes House to share best practices and engage in professional development with other Sustainability Champions.

It is extremely important that we build a culture in school where we all care for the world around us and educate ourselves about sustainability. Our topic-based curriculum is the perfect vehicle to do this and in the last year our pupils have learned about the Amazon rain forests, polar ice caps and climate change.

Q&A with Mackenzie Graden

What is your vision for sustainability for the school and how are you developing towards the vision?

I envision sustainability being a natural part of everyday life at The Lyceum, with a continued shift in attitudes toward protecting our planet. While we’ve made great progress in recent years, both staff and pupils must come together to keep driving change.

Sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, and no action is too small—many small steps can lead to a big impact. Through our lessons and real-life experiences, we are inspiring and raising the next generation of eco-aware children.

Can you tell me about the Green Flag Distinction from The Eco Councils Association, what does this mean to you and the community?

The Green Flag Distinction represents all of the work around sustainability that the school has done over the past couple of years and our dedication to being a sustainability focused school.

We hold half termly local litter picks, are embedding sustainability into our topic learning, and one of our biggest changes: we are now streamlining our waste after introducing recycling and food waste bins into every classroom, common area and lunch hall.

Our three topic focuses which led us to being awarded the Green Flag Status in 2024 were: waste, litter and marine.

How are you supporting the community through sustainability?

We have many fantastic sustainability initiatives that support our children in school, our families and the wider community from a sustainability perspective. We run termly sustainable uniform sales which not only support our parents from a financial perspective but also help to ensure hundreds of clothing items a year are being reused instead of thrown out.

In addition, we hold used book swaps and £1 used book sales every year, we have numerous charitable fundraisers across the year, and we collect food bank donations for Hackney food bank every term. During our half termly local litter picks, our Eco Council have been praised by members of our local community for our work.

How are the children learning about sustainability?

Each year group from Years 1-6 has an Eco-Champion who, after self-nomination, has been selected by their peers to represent their class. The council meet regularly throughout each term to develop and implement new initiatives. They are responsible for our local litter picks, monitoring waste in the classroom and helping lead awareness assemblies.

We have three Sustainability Weeks across the year with environmental focused assemblies, guest speakers, workshops and local litter picks. Some highlights from our past Sustainability Weeks include an Eco Fashion Show, inter-house food waste challenges, an Eco Poetry competition and a beach clean in Southend.

In addition to these weeks throughout the year, during the Summer Term, each year group has a sustainability focus within their topic. For example, Year 1 learned about plastic pollution during their topic ‘Off to Sea’.