Energy Sparks

Energy Sparks' vision is 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 knowledge, skills, and tools to take measurable 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. Energy Sparks provides an online school specific energy management tool and education programme designed to help schools reduce their electricity and gas usage through bespoke analysis of smart meter data. Energy Sparks highlights low-cost opportunities for energy saving. We provide online, email and text notifications of changes in energy consumption with recommended energy saving actions tailored for each school. Energy Sparks has over 100 energy-related activities which pupils can participate in through eco-teams or class-based learning. Schools gain points for completing activities which contribute to a scoreboard where children can compete with other schools providing extra motivation. Energy Sparks provides education workshops, assemblies, energy management mentoring, webinar training, newsletters and bespoke support to drive more engagement and impact. Most schools can achieve energy savings of around 10% in their first year of engagement, resulting in cost savings of between £2,500 to £6000 and 8 tonnes of CO2 based on an average 2 form entry primary school. Our most engaged schools have achieved savings of up to 30%, typically by addressing holiday use, weekend use and heating start times. Energy Sparks empowers pupils to develop environmental awareness, participate in leadership and collaborative opportunities, build communication and analytical skills, be motivated to take responsibility for their school, and develop positive responses to climate change.