Energy Sparks

Who we are

Energy Sparks is working towards a sustainable future in which the school community is at the heart of  measurable action to tackle climate change. We equip children and young people with the knowledge, skills, and tools to take practical action in their school and wider community to reduce carbon emissions. We enable school leaders, staff and communities to better understand and reduce their school’s energy consumption and introduce wider measures to reduce their carbon footprint. 

Using a school’s smart meter data, Energy Sparks shows school pupils, staff and volunteers how much energy the school is using each day. Our unique online tool presents bespoke analysis of the energy data with suggestions of actions the school community could take to save energy and reduce the school’s carbon emissions. Pupils, staff and community volunteers can use this information to help the school to save energy, and help protect the environment. Where a school has solar panels installed, Energy Sparks shows the solar generation and export data alongside weather data to highlight the performance of the solar panels.

Energy Sparks has over 100 energy and sustainability education activities and accompanying resources which pupils can participate in through eco-teams or curriculum learning. These activities support learning about climate change and the reduction of carbon emissions, investigating energy use around the school site, taking action to reduce energy use and spreading the energy saving and carbon reduction message across the wider school community. 

As the headteacher at one of Energy Sparks' participating schools said:
'Energy Sparks has enabled children at Freshford to investigate how energy is used in different parts of the school and devise strategies to reduce the school's consumption. The children's enthusiasm was kick-started by the competitive element and they’ve worked effectively with staff and the local community to think innovatively about what we can do to reduce our impact on the environment and reduce costs. The children developed and presented evidence-based initiatives to the school's business managers, securing installation of energy-efficient lighting and kitchen equipment, movement-sensor-switches, and a solar-panel campaign.

The Energy Sparks  resources are inspirational, powerful and transformational tools for all schools that will enable them to reduce their CO2 footprint, save money and help children to develop a powerful can-do attitude towards the challenges of global warming.'
 

As well as access to the online tool and resources, schools are supported with online training, energy management mentoring and education workshops.