Outstanding schools: Ashley C of E

For Ashley Primary in Surrey, sustainability has become a wholeschool ethos that encourages children to learn about, respect...

The most effective headteachers invariably have strong views on how best to plant and nurture knowledge in their children, but there can be few primaries in the country whose identities have been shaped more comprehensively by their leader than Ashley Church of England Primary School in Surrey. ‘Outstanding’ in Ofsted’s eyes since 2007, Ashley C of E is a large and growing school – during the week of TP’s visit, two brand new classroom blocks were officially opened, as well as a substantial hall extension and a community kitchen, to great fanfare. It is also a school remarkable for its academic achievement; its pupils’ results place it in the top five per cent in the country. But what ensures it stands out in the crowd is headteacher Richard Dunne’s passion for sustainability: a vision that has grown to become an ethos embraced enthusiastically by the whole school.

“I went to Antarctica five years ago now,” Richard remembers as we sit down to talk about what ‘sustainability’ looks like in Key Stage 1 and 2, and how it came to be the school’s focus in the first place. “At the time I was a trustee of the Jane Goodall Institute, and the chair of the trustees knew Robert Swan, who was leading the expedition. Robert’s an internationally renowned polar explorer and the first man to walk unaided to both the North and South Pole – an inspirational character – but on this occasion he wanted to take a team with him that could develop the educational potential of Antarctica: to highlight its awe inspiring beauty and also to say that it is changing because of the way we live our lives.

“I was very moved by what I could see was happening there,” he continues, “and when I came back I decided that we needed to radically change the way we did things in the school. So, I spoke with the governors, and then with the staff to see how we might start making changes. We did it step by step so it took time, but it’s been a cultural shift.”

Today, many of the aforementioned changes are easy to spot. Head online, and a suitably green-hued website (ashleyschool.org.uk) highlights the school’s eco credentials: its biomass boiler, solar heating and photovoltaic array, and energy efficient lighting. Visit in person, and a stroll of the expansive grounds reveals an abundance of flora and fauna – from apple trees and flowerbeds, to chickens, a bird hide and hives teeming with bees (all of which children are actively engaging with). But speaking to Richard it is clear that ‘sustainability’ at Ashley C of E runs far deeper. “We’ve put sustainability best practice at the heart of all that we do,” is how he puts it. “It’s not an add on, it’s not an after school club, or a theme week, or a topic for one year group. It permeates everything.”

What does this mean in practice? An obvious place to start is the focus on energy management that spearheaded Ashley’s efforts to go green. “We have a monitoring system called Eco-Driver,” explains Richard; “it helps us to save energy, but actually it’s a learning tool. We can use it to look at energy consumption in an individual part of the school; we can compare meters or solar generation versus consumption, or different times of the year; we can look at usage half-hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. It’s very flexible and very motivating for the children.

“Every Friday, our oldest children share the data they’ve collected with the school and suggest one thing that everybody can consider that week,” he continues. “We’ve been doing it for four years now, and the children have used the software to do things that surprise and challenge us. For example, they noticed that at the beginning of the school day energy use was high because we were photocopying a lot; so they challenged us to think about alternative ways of introducing learning. They’ve pointed out that after lunch the kitchen ovens were on for too long – the floor was being swept before staff turned the ovens off – so children asked if it could be done the other way around.

“We set targets,” he adds, “and if children meet those targets we celebrate their success. Each block is responsible for conserving energy and gets a total out of five at the end of the week, depending on how well they do. Blocks that score five get £5 to spend on equipment for their classroom. It’s very accessible for them and I think they’re always motivated by a fiver!”

Head outside, away from the energy saving technology, and while Ashley’s grounds don’t have much to offer children in terms of monetary gain, there are plenty of opportunities for them to exercise their green fingers – vital, as sustainability at the school also takes the form of an ongoing commitment to growing: “Every class has a session each term outside helping with the growing,” says Richard, “and we expect each year group to have a focus area that they will be responsible for watering or weeding too. We encourage a sense that these things don’t just happen, that they need to be managed all the time.”

But it is what children are growing, and what they’re doing with it, that is perhaps of most interest. “We’re starting to develop a programme of food growing based around diversity,” continues Richard. “Most children will tell you there are three types of apples, and these are the three types of apples they buy in the supermarket, which come in a plastic bag. What we have here is a Surrey apple orchard with 30 species of Surrey apple, and our children are learning to become experts in them. The project is going into the Hampton Court Flower Show as one of the gardens for RHS Wisley as a showcase for diversity in fruit.

“We celebrate diversity in children, and rightly so,” he explains, “but our world is also the perfect model of diversity working together. So, we want every year group to become an expert in diversity in some particular species – we’re currently growing 32 varieties of potatoes and 28 varieties of gooseberries, and we have a project planned for the autumn to do the same things with pear trees.”

This project, with its focus on diversity, hints at a broader definition of sustainability than perhaps is the norm for the primary classroom, and as the conversation shifts to Ashley C of E’s curriculum it is made abundantly clear that Richard’s focus is not solely on the school’s relationship with Mother Nature. “Every one of our topics of learning involves a shift in thinking designed to lead us to a more sustainable way of life,” he comments. “But when I talk about sustainability it’s not just about environmental practice; it’s about wellbeing, it’s about living in harmony with each other, and it’s about community – as much as it is about pollution or recycling. We are a church school so we have a strong Christian ethos, and we are also a Values School, so we’re underpinning all of our learning with core values too.”

Learning at Ashley has a distinctive look, shaped by this philosophy. Its curriculum is based on a system of enquiries – each one a question that spans a half-term’s learning – which culminate in ‘great works’. “It’s said that enquiry is not just asking a question, it’s a seeking of truth,” explains Richard, “so our enquiries are often quite profound questions. For example, in a very simple way, Year 2’s current enquiry is ‘Why bees are brilliant?’; so they’re learning that bees work really well together, they all have different roles and they create something beautiful: honey. Ultimately, the children’s great work will be to use our bees’ honey to create a jar of Ashley honey.”

Surrounding these enquiries is the idea of ‘Design for Change’ – a global initiative established by the Riverside School in India (schoolriverside.com), to which Ashley C of E has links – which challenges children to take a hands-on approach to making the world a better place. “As children embark on their learning journey for the half-term, we ask them ‘What do you feel you would like to change? What bothers you?’,” explains Richard. “For example, when one class was doing a project about building and our local town, they drew our attention to a wall outside the school that was in disrepair. We said, imagine what you could do to change things and create something better. They had to plan it – Does it need resourcing? Does it need funding? How are you going to make it work? – and do it. At the end of term, every class shares their project in assembly.

“I think what Design for Change has helped me to do here,” he says, “is to find a balance between a sustainability agenda on one side and the values that underpin it, and the real life application of learning on the other. They are actually very similar, because sustainability agenda items are about making our world better; it’s a natural partnership.”

‘Making the world better’ seems to sum up the attitude at Ashley C of E quite nicely. Sustainability at the school is not a topic on saving the rainforests or posters encouraging people to turn their taps off, though it might include both of those things. What it is is a focus on respect – for others and the natural world – and an emphasis on the practical steps, be they grand projects or simple gestures, that can make a difference to individuals and communities large and small. Far from an indulgence, Richard’s decision to place sustainability at the forefront of learning at Ashley proves how much a good idea, skilfully developed and delivered, can invigorate children’s education.

1. IT’S TRADITIONAL

There is a focus on the value of ‘traditional skills’ at Ashley, driven not by a nostalgic view of the past but by a sense that modern society’s priorities have become somewhat skewed. “It’s all well and good to be caught up in the technology of today and the future,” says Richard, “but we need to be connected to our past as well. We need to be able to grow things, to be good at carpentry; we are always going to need these skills.

“One of the concerns today,” he adds, “ is that our young people are very disconnected from the real world – they spend a lot of time texting or playing computer games. It’s important that they don’t lose their connection with the awe and wonder of nature – seeing a butterfly, watching ants march along a branch or finding the first gooseberries growing under a leaf are things that can be fantastic for them.”

2. PARENT PARTNERS

Alongside the work of Richard and his staff, a crucial aspect of the Ashley C of E’s success has been its relationship with, and the help of, parents. “It’s down to communication; we’re constantly in touch,” says Richard. “We say to parents that it’s all very well supporting your child with their homework, but we want you to come in and be part of the school too.

“It’s about finding the right events that they can really enjoy,” he continues. “For example, we have an event in July called Ashstock with camping around the field, BBQs and a stage with a band playing. The children bring their bikes and play games, and everyone has a great time. There are always parents who are hard to reach, but we are setting out clear expectations of them.”

3. DESIGN TIME

A balance has been struck at Ashley between teacher- and childled learning, and while he stresses the value of adult guidance, Richard is clear that allowing children to direct their own learning is vital. “From my experience, the reason that young people say they don’t care is because they’re not being heard,” he says. “It’s a big issue in secondary schools, where you have battery farmed learning in a lot of cases. Where is the children’s role in that? Where are they being given time and space to really take on their passions?

“On a Friday afternoon we have what we call Design Time; pupils choose something from the week’s learning to return to. They might want to go back to their maths because they were really into it; or they might want to be artistic and carry on with some art work. If they don’t a say in their learning they can start to become disaffected.”

4. TURTLE POWER

One result of the Design for Change philosophy at Ashley is Eco Turtle. “The Eco Turtle project is a great example of the real-life application of learning,” explains Richard. “The children came up with the name, filmed videos, designed posters and went out to the community and asked people if they would use Delphis Eco plant-based cleaning products. They explained that it would be cheaper and more ecofriendly as you can use the same bottle again and again.

“It’s now being showcased nationally with Eco Schools at Delphis Eco launches to try to promote it to other schools. Linked to these kinds of projects is the idea that children are responsible for learning. They’re about meaningful enquiry and its real-life applications.”