Cutting back on the budget – is renewable energy the answer?
Mark Stevenson, Managing Director of Bright Spark Energy, advises how schools can cut back on their budget by using renewable energy options. He explains how making tiny efficiency changes as well as exploring funding options can provide schools with the tools to save money… School budgets are on everyone’s minds. With budgets being squeezed, the pressure to find solutions that can help schools save money and reduce the pressure on school leaders and teachers grows. Small, proactive changes can actually be a great way for schools to save money, while larger investments can be a vital part of a longer-term sustainability strategy. Here I explore some important environmental changes, big and small, that schools can look at implementing, including how they would work within schools, the benefits that they bring and the different funding and providers that are available to assist schools with larger investments. The smaller changes Schools are often very environmentally conscious, especially when it comes to things such as green spaces and encouraging children to explore and respect the nature around them. Small changes made every day in the classroom can quickly add up and result in real savings. For example, if teachers turn off the lights, PCs and projectors in their classroom between lessons and at the end of the day, this can save a substantial amount of money! This small action can be turned into an activity for the classroom, too. Pupils could be assigned the role of ‘light marshalls’ who have the responsibility to turn the lights off when classrooms are not used. Another option is to get pupils to monitor the classroom temperature as part of a lesson, enabling children to learn about science, finances and responsibility while also saving the school money! Turning down the temperature in the classrooms a few degrees will save a lot over a long winter. Another investment would be LED Lighting. LED Lighting is often labelled “the future of lighting”, due to the very small amount of energy it uses and its ability to last a very long time, not to mention the positive impact to the quality of teaching and learning spaces. LED lighting uses up to 75% less energy and lasts up to 10x longer than traditional types of lighting. Switching the lighting has obvious benefits, funding models are available so there is upfront capital cost and it has the potential for long-term financial savings. Larger investments For schools that are thinking long-term, larger investments – such as switching to renewable energy options – can save the school money while also providing other substantial benefits to the environment and the classroom! Solar Photovolatics, also known as solar PV for short, is a piece of technology that features heavily in our lives, with homes as well as businesses and schools using solar PV to heat their home. It has been often been viewed as an alternative to traditional methods like fossil fuels. In its simplest terms, it is a technology that allows for daylight to be converted into electrical power. The Government highlighted within a 2012 report the benefits that solar PV can provide, including the ability to reduce Co2 emissions, reduce electricity bills and generate a financial surplus for schools once they have installed solar PV systems. One school that we worked closely with, Beccles Primary Academy in Suffolk, actually managed to use their solar energy to power lunches! The Academy had upgraded their kitchens to use electric ovens but the electricity bills soared. Our team designed a solar installation to be the most efficient when the ovens were on, so the solar power is cooking the school dinners at the moment. Installed in November, it has been estimated that the solar power will generate 53% of the Academy’s electricity requirements onsite, reducing their reliance on grid-bought electricity. Funding options It’s all well and good speaking about long-term investments, such as switching to solar panel energy, but if schools are aiming to cut back on expenditure, it can be difficult to find the initial investment despite the obvious benefits it could bring. However, there are funding options available that aim to help schools invest in renewable energy, while also protecting their finances and providing long-term protection against faulty or damaged equipment. For example, Bright Sparks funding partner, Less Is More Capital provides schools with funding in order to generate a surplus, which can then be reinvested back into learning. Renewable energy can increase your investment threefold The funding scheme estimates that for every £1 that is put into schools’ renewable energy options it will generate £3-4 from renewable energy innovations that can then be reinvested back into the schools, for example to provide new materials for learners. Funding such as this often comes with better warranty timescales, with the Less Is More Capital and its partners offering warranty for 13 years, providing security should the equipment be faulty or get damaged. Other organisations tend to skim on warranties, which could then leave schools with little option but to either spend additional money to replace damages or use faulty equipment. Final thoughts Small everyday steps can help schools to cut back on their expenditure and when used creatively they can be integrated into fun, educational activities for the classroom. Although the larger, longer-term investments such as solar PV may be costly to begin with, they can also bring great benefits to the school, to the bank balance and to the environment. Finally, it is important to remember that there is funding available for schools to ease this process. Providing financial security is important, so that schools can reap the financial and environmental benefits for years to come.
Practical Applications of Technology in Education
It is surely difficult for schoolchildren and students today to imagine classrooms as they were not that long ago – without computers and mobile phones. Technology is now ubiquitous in schools – learning platforms, laptops, mobile phones and so on. According to a 2016 report from EdTechXGlobal, education technology is becoming a global phenomenon, and as distribution and platforms scale internationally, the market is projected to grow at 17.0% per annum, to $252bn by 2020. Yet does all this technology really help? Some teachers clearly use it effectively to help their students learn, but not all. Some teachers and students are enthusiastic about using new technologies, others less so – many teachers have, despite new ideas about new ways of teaching including making use of new technologies, been somewhat slow in adapting the way they teach to encompass these effectively, and there is a lack of evidence that students are learning more effectively – in fact in some cases technology can be a distraction. Two technologies that are of clear practical benefit, however are online recruitment systems and products that enable parental engagement. Online Recruitment Systems Last year, The Guardian newspaper ran a survey that found that 43% of teachers in state schools intended to leave the profession within the next five years. Schools are already struggling to find teachers in key subjects and in some of the more remote parts of the country this is even more difficult. Recruitment agencies and press advertising can be effective, but expensive, and schools and colleges are now turning in increasing numbers to online recruitment systems as a more cost-effective way of finding the best staff. Bringing recruitment in-house can cut the cost considerably, and can be extremely effective. These systems allow a school to post simultaneously to many job boards, allowing the recruitment net to be cast very widely, and present an advanced and attractive careers page on the school’s website. The talent pooling facility which is inbuilt to some of these systems also allows details of unsuccessful candidates to be retained so they can be contacted again if another, more suitable post becomes vacant. Schools and colleges such as Huntingdonshire Regional College, Loughborough Endowed Schools, Newcastle Under Lyme College, Ashton Sixth Form College, and Felsted School are examples of schools making effective use of these (NB we can provide a full case history for a school or college). Whole-school Communication and Engagement Products Whole school communication and engagement products, via an app on a mobile phone, are now starting to make their way into schools and colleges. These allow a high level of built-in, targeted communication. They facilitate two-way engagement, while allowing the school to choose the most appropriate channel of communication – for example, SMS, Push Notification, Email, Chat, Notice, Social Media – for the correct situation. It is widely accepted that the involvement of parents with their child’s education makes a great difference to success in the classroom. Yet, for many reasons including lack of time, a feeling of not being welcome at a school, not all parents are as actively involved as they could be. A study by the National College for School Leadership1 quoting Harris and Goodall makes a distinction between parental engagement as considered as parental engagement in learning, as opposed to parental involvement in schooling. However, both are important. The study says that “Feedback from school leaders shows that one of the major concerns in running a modern school is trying to get parents to engage more. Because of the changing demographic of modern parenting, traditional approaches to parental involvement have been largely unsuccessful.” The study goes on to say that “all forms of positive parental interaction with school are important and can have a positive impact on children’s learning, behaviour and attendance. The research found that schools in different contexts employ a wide range of practical strategies to encourage parents to engage more with the school. Positive communication is essential for such parental engagement strategies to succeed, but this can take place in a number of ways. The best approaches are tailored to specific parental needs, and context is an essential factor when considering parental engagement strategies.” However, as a paper from the Department of Education outlines, there can be a number of challenges in making parental involvement and engagement successful. 2 There are many ways that schools try to encourage parental involvement, from welcoming them as classroom volunteers, being available out of hours, live chat sessions, even child-parent cookery classes, and so on. But a new kind of interactive communications technology is also helping this effort. In today’s world of mobile apps and when many children, even young ones, have mobile phones and even tablets, you’d think communication would be easy. But what many schools want is a way of communicating quickly and easily with parents and all students, and whole school communication and engagement products, via an app on a mobile phone, are starting to make their way into schools. These allow a high level of built-in, targeted communication, facilitating two-way engagement, while allowing the school to choose the most appropriate channel of communication – for example, SMS, Push Notification, Email, Chat, Notice, Social Media – for the correct situation. An example is Heather Primary School, based in Coalville, Leicestershire, who are using a whole-school communication platform, to help improve communication and engagement between parents and staff. (NB we can provide a brief case history on this). The school selected the product for its ability to bring all communication methods into one platform whilst being accessible via web browser and mobile app; this helped to meet the developing requirements of the school. Prior to taking the system, the school relied mainly on text messaging and paper newsletters to engage with parents. While technology proliferates in schools today, some is more useful than others. Tools that are simple to use and have a clear function that solves a difficult and ongoing problem are the ones likely to be around for the long-term, albeit revised and enhanced to meet the
Embedding a life-long love of science through a high-quality resource
Executive head teacher Malcolm Drakes explains how a science resource has changed the way that the subject is being taught across Broadford Primary School… “Pupils at Broadford Primary School wake up excited at the prospect of the school day ahead. We work to give the 568 children in our care a rich educational experience with challenges and the highest quality teaching. “We want our pupils to develop a lifelong love of learning. This informs every aspect of our work and has won us recognition from outside bodies. This year we were chosen as the Times Educational Supplement Primary School of the Year and we also won the coveted Overall School of the Year 2017. “Here was a set of simple but effective resources that would let us deliver high end lessons with a WOW factor” “It is hard to believe that back in March 2012 Broadford Primary School was in Special Measures. The Senior Leadership Team decided that a systematic and sustained focus on continuous professional development (CPD) was key to improvement. “Within two years the school was transformed. An emphasis on planning, resourcing and training meant that teachers were more confident and competent when teaching core subjects. Creating awe and wonder in science lessons “A fine example of this was the teaching of science. Very few primary teachers have a background or qualification in science. This is a pity because science, taught well, provides some of the most exciting and dramatic moments in a classroom. “We wanted to thrill them with exciting experiments and activities so that even the youngest of our pupils could experience the ‘awe and wonder’ of science. It was a tall order. It was essential to equip teachers with the necessary subject knowledge and to find the money for resources so that they could conduct high quality experiments. “There was no local training we could tap into and we were disappointed to find that many of the science schemes we could buy in would require the teachers to interpret the ideas, resource the lessons and develop their own subject knowledge. “This was going to place too heavy a workload on our teachers and would make it very difficult for us to differentiate teaching so that we could provide high end challenges for our more able learners. “We came across Empiribox and were immediately impressed. Here was a set of simple but effective resources that would let us deliver high end lessons with a WOW factor. “Each month all year groups study the same topic featuring hands-on investigative activity guaranteed to engage pupils of all abilities create a school-wide buzz of excitement and promote collaborative working and best practice amongst staff. “Empiribox was developed by Dan Sullivan, an experienced secondary head of science. It gives us twelve themed monthly packages of inspiring lesson plans covering chemistry, biology and physics and assessment tools designed to measure, track and record pupil development. Everything is mapped to the KS 1 & 2 National Curriculum schemes of work. It is a great time saver for our staff and means we don’t have the stress and anxiety of planning the annual science curriculum. “When you are delivering science sessions you need equipment but we don’t have the necessary space to store science resources when they are not in use so we were delighted to discover that Empiribox would deliver a trolley load of specialist equipment for every year group and collect it when the classes had finished that topic. “This is such a brilliant idea: it keeps down our capital costs, makes best use of our limited storage space and provides all the kit needed for exciting hands-on activities designed to enthral pupils of all abilities.” “The training provided by Empiribox is a key benefit for us. We estimated that the cost of training 25 teachers for three days would typically total upwards of £10,000 alone, so the Empiribox package represents an affordable solution for our school and the CPD they provide is free. “The company provides a termly CPD training programme delivered by science graduates which boosts the confidence of our teachers and makes sure lessons go with a bang – sometimes literally! “Empiribox was rolled out across the whole of KS1 and KS2 from February 2015. Each month all year groups study the same topic. They enjoy practical investigations suitable for the whole ability range and we even find staff talking about the topics and working together so there is a school-wide buzz of excitement. “They have access to online resources to support planning and to enable them to answer questions from curious pupils and Georgina Barron, our AHT for Curriculum, regularly observes the lessons and then helps teachers to develop the quality of their teaching “We have been working with Mead Primary School, one of our partner schools in the federation. The teachers can work together on training, planning and evaluation so pupils at both schools get access to the same high quality teaching. It also means that science teaching in the federation is not just the responsibility of one member of staff so we can ensure consistency even if staff leave or are absent long-term. “Teachers are building their skills and subject knowledge. Tej Lander, a Year 4 teacher, told me, ‘Empiribox has really helped me to develop my scientific knowledge. My confidence with the vocabulary and how to address misconceptions has really improved with the training.’ “His pupils are very appreciative too. Paige said, ‘The teacher demonstrations have been amazing. When my Mr Lander blew the top of the paint can off it was incredible. It makes the learning so much fun.’ “When we asked the staff, 90% agreed strongly that their scientific knowledge had improved while 100% said they were more confident at planning and delivering experiments with their classes. “Working with Empiribox has significantly helped to raise
Whole School Framework: a simple approach
Every organisation has an emotional culture and we help schools to reflect on how well their emotional culture supports their ethos, stated aims, values and outcomes for pupil wellbeing. The emotional culture of a school is formed over time by the people working there, who are led by and model their behaviour on their senior leaders. As part of the core business of a school, we offer opportunities for SLTs and Governors to reflect on their unique context and to consider together how policies, practices and behaviours might further enhance an emotionally healthy culture for the whole school. Encompassing programmes from Family Links, Emotional Health at School and Emotional Health at Work, we have 20 years’ experience in developing, delivering and evaluating emotional health approaches. The majority of learning in a school is a result of informal interactions and so real change occurs through developing and maintaining a healthy culture. Hours can be spent writing specific programmes and yet for these programmes to bring the desired outcomes it will be the daily culture of the organization which will deliver in reality. The culture of a school will be what teaches everyone what is acceptable and what is not; this outweighs any list of rules or induction handbooks for staff, pupils or parents. There have been plenty of studies showing the connections between school culture and academic outcomes, staff recruitment and retention, parental engagement and community support; we all learn best when we are feeling safe, contained and able to thrive. Emotional Health at School offers a whole school framework (for staff, pupils, parents) as a pro-active model allowing all members of the school community to develop positive relationships, feelings of competence, agency and self-determination. Wellbeing for All The current challenges in schools in the UK are leading to a new understanding that we need to approach things differently to find ways to equip staff, parents and pupils with the environment they need in order to fulfil their different roles well and sustain their own wellbeing. We know that feelings are the drivers of behaviours; an emotionally healthy culture supports everyone in the community with learning to notice, manage and regulate feelings. This daily experience for pupils can develop internal capabilities to manage life’s ups and downs, risks, opportunities, and support them with making healthy choices for themselves. In these ways, an emotionally healthy culture is also a protective factor for Mental Health. What we offer We offer sessions for all staff (teaching, support, administration) and also a variety of Parent Programmes ranging from our 10 week Nurturing Programme, to workshops on specific topics, to working 1:1 with parents (we train staff to facilitate these programmes). Schools which have embedded these programmes over time have found that having a shared language and approach, focusing in on the feelings behind behaviours, can help the whole school community to develop personal strategies and skills to manage themselves and each other in this increasingly complicated world. It takes time to fully embed a whole-school approach to emotional health and wellbeing. Investing time and resources into developing, establishing and maintaining an emotionally healthy culture produces long term benefits for the emotional health of the whole school community as well as enduring impacts on the pupils’ social, emotional and academic outcomes. We work together with schools to explore their unique context and to put together a package of reflections/workshops/trainings over a year which can meet their needs within an agreed budget for the year. This allows for SLT and Governors to address this core business of leadership and governance in a proactive, “live” way. When something difficult happens in a school community, it is then possible to re-think the most useful response in terms of workshops or trainings, without this affecting the overall budget. In this way, staff, pupils and parents can also be well-supported to manage in times of need. Quotes from teachers: Having a shared language and understanding across our school makes managing challenging situations less stressful. It is really clear to me that we have to work hard to create a learning environment which genuinely feels safe for each individual child. They will only begin their deeper learning when they feel emotionally safe. Having a whole school approach to this is what allows for the development of this deeper learning When parents/carers are allowed into the conversation about our approach, it helps with all of our conversations over the child’s time in the school. Just being reminded on a daily basis that behaviours are driven by feelings makes being a teacher so much less stressful With the responsibility to respond in the best way for so many difficulties, having a clear framework with strategies I can understand and which the children become used to across the school, has allowed me to feel more confident in being able to support children who might have big safeguarding challenges, mental health difficulties or the kind of learning needs which make the classroom a tricky place to be. I have felt so much more confident in managing stressful conversations with parents since the workshop It feels safe for me to learn in this school, so I am able to pass that on to the pupils. Quotes from parents: I have done the 10 week Parent Programme twice! As my eldest child became a teenager, I felt I would really benefit from being together with other parents again each week and refreshing my understanding of how I might respond to the new challenges I was facing, and knowing that others are facing the difficulties too. The teachers had always been very friendly and nice but when I did the 10 week parent programme I really understood that I wasn’t being judged as a parent at all – we are just all there to work together for the best outcomes for the children. Home has become more relaxed too! I still meet up with many of the parents who were in my parent group and we can support
LocknCharge to launch new charge and store device, the Putnam 16 Charging Station, at BETT 2018
LocknCharge is committed to making teachers’ lives easier by manufacturing high quality solutions for syncing, charging, transporting, securing and storing iPads, Chromebooks, tablets and other mobile devices. Technology has many advantages in the classroom, but unlike textbooks, devices have to be ‘managed’. LocknCharge helps solve this problem. On stand E190 at BETT, LocknCharge will launch its brand new Putnam 16 Charging Station focusing on convenience, effectiveness, and space saving in the classroom. In collaboration with Putnam City Schools, the Putnam Charging Station was developed by recognising the needs that similar schools face in charging and securing iPad or tablet devices, and working together to solve these in an ‘education specific’ manner. The Putnam is designed to individually store, charge and secure up to 16 iPad or tablet devices. The Putnam comes pre-wired and equipped with 16 perfectly sized MFi approved Lightning cables – an important feature for schools as time is often limited. With a colour-coded LED charging status display for each slot, teachers can easily know if the devices are charging (red) or ready to use (green). With numbered slots, teachers can even assign students a slot, so they know whose devices are charging or being used at a glance. With an integrated mechanical combination lock, there are no keys to worry about either. Plus, the charging station includes a master override key for school administrators in case of forgotten combinations. Another common problem in schools is a lack of space, which is where the Putnam is particularly accommodating. With a small footprint, and lightweight frame, a school can easily mount the unit to the floor, wall or desk to save space. With a pedestal and bracket, they can even stack the charging station to provide additional slots when required for charging devices. James Symons says: “LocknCharge products keep tablets safe, synced and charged, and always ready for use. This makes the management process so much easier for individual teachers and schools, freeing up their time to do what they do best – teach. By working with Putnam City Schools in this way, we have been able to focus on what really works for schools and fits their needs, and we think we have found that with this new product through our journey together.” For more information on LocknCharge, please visit their website at www.lockncharge.com or telephone: +44 (0) 208 441 4107.
LocknCharge to launch its new charge and store device, the Putnam 16 Charging Station, at BETT 2018
LocknCharge is committed to making teachers’ lives easier by manufacturing high quality solutions for syncing, charging, transporting, securing and storing iPads, Chromebooks, tablets and other mobile devices. Technology has many advantages in the classroom, but unlike textbooks, devices have to be ‘managed’. LocknCharge helps solve this problem. On stand E190 at BETT, LocknCharge will launch its brand new Putnam 16 Charging Station focusing on convenience, effectiveness, and space saving in the classroom. In collaboration with Putnam City Schools, the Putnam Charging Station was developed by recognising the needs that similar schools face in charging and securing iPad or tablet devices, and working together to solve these in an ‘education specific’ manner. The Putnam is designed to individually store, charge and secure up to 16 iPad or tablet devices. The Putnam comes pre-wired and equipped with 16 perfectly sized MFi approved Lightning cables – an important feature for schools as time is often limited. With a colour-coded LED charging status display for each slot, teachers can easily know if the devices are charging (red) or ready to use (green). With numbered slots, teachers can even assign students a slot, so they know whose devices are charging or being used at a glance. With an integrated mechanical combination lock, there are no keys to worry about either. Plus, the charging station includes a master override key for school administrators in case of forgotten combinations. Another common problem in schools is a lack of space, which is where the Putnam is particularly accommodating. With a small footprint, and lightweight frame, a school can easily mount the unit to the floor, wall or desk to save space. With a pedestal and bracket, they can even stack the charging station to provide additional slots when required for charging devices. James Symons says: “LocknCharge products keep tablets safe, synced and charged, and always ready for use. This makes the management process so much easier for individual teachers and schools, freeing up their time to do what they do best – teach. By working with Putnam City Schools in this way, we have been able to focus on what really works for schools and fits their needs, and we think we have found that with this new product through our journey together.” For more information on LocknCharge, please visit their website at www.lockncharge.com or telephone: +44 (0) 208 441 4107.
Ready-made lesson plans and worksheets
Wand Education is a new teaching platform developed for both primary and secondary schools, that was trialled by West Exe and Cranbrook Schools in Exeter. Wand is an education tool that provides teachers with quick and efficient means to access or edit quality ready-made lesson plans and worksheets. It is adaptable to any type of content and schools can, if they wish, upload their own schemes of learning and power them by Wand. Wand Education is working with a variety of content providers and when launched it will already have high-quality content within it including a phonics, history and geography scheme of learning – the latter two linked to the AQA syllabus for GCSE. Key features of Wand include: • Reuse, edit or create own lesson plans Teachers can reuse and edit premium content, upload their own schemes of learning, search for activities created by other teachers or reliable authors and publishers, or create their own content using 20+ pre-built activity templates, with all lesson plans mapped on learning objectives. • Project or deliver to student groups Teachers can either project a lesson or send it to an entire class, or to a group of students, making it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction according to student ability. • Engaging worksheets Wand Education provides teachers with a worksheet template that replicates the paper-based worksheet, while adding the benefits of the digital technology on top of it. • Get actionable data on student progress 67% of teachers complain on the quality of student progress reports[1], with most tools providing either simplistic or data-heavy reports. Wand Education provides teachers with visual reports on student progress and actionable data that need to be addressed for students to improve their work. Teachers get live overview on student progress, with options to grade and annotate open-ended answers in a similar fashion to the paper-based activities. And they can download a printable report which includes both an aggregated set of analytics with student activity and areas that need to be improved, as well as the actual activities performed by the student, with answers, marking and teacher annotations. For more information on Wand Education’s lesson plans and worksheets, just go to wand.education 1 http://www.teachersknowbest.org/reports/making_data_work
The Perfect Finish: Two Schools Score Dulux Smarter Spaces £10,000 Design Prize
Two lucky schools have been announced as winners of the annual Dulux Smarter Spaces competition and are each set to receive £10,000 worth of colour and design services. Lawley Primary School in Telford and Highdown School & Sixth From Centre in Reading will revitalise their education environments with help from the leading paint manufacturer’s Smarter Spaces team, which puts pupils at the heart of design in schools. As part of their prize, the schools received a surprise visit from the Dulux Dog as well as Matthew Burton, star of TV’s Educating Yorkshire and ambassador for the campaign, to celebrate their win. The initiative promotes the concept of ‘learner-led design’ and the effective use of colour in schools and encourages pupils to be actively involved in the decoration planning process. Lawley Primary School will use the money to transform their entrance hall and main corridor, while Highdown School are set to turn an old technology classroom into an inspiring art and photography studio. The competition was launched as research carried out by Dulux revealed that a staggering two thirds of schools lacked the funding to make basic refurbishment improvements, with an overwhelming majority of teachers and head teachers considering the school environment to affect pupils’ academic life. Schools had to submit a 300-word entry explaining why they should win the £10,000 transformation and how they would make use of the funding. The final winner was chosen by a panel of judges, including Matthew Burton and education expert, Professor Stephen Heppell. Becky Orton, Senior Brand Manager for Dulux Smarter Spaces, comments: “We’re delighted to announce the winners of this year’s competition. We work with schools across the country to design learning spaces that are not only inspiring and stimulating, but also meet the needs of the busy school environment. Our decoration and design packages are tailored to a school’s needs, offering services to suit every budget. We can’t wait to get to work on these projects!” About the scheme The Dulux Smarter Spaces service helps schools get the most out of their environment within their budget and allows teachers and head teachers to focus on running the school. From creating an oasis of calm to building engaging classroom displays or focus walls, the initiative champions a range of ways to make simple additions to learning environments that can make a big difference to learning outcomes. Using Ofsted criteria as a starting point, Dulux Trade identified five areas of focus where the design of the environment can support teaching and learning: to inspire engagement, improve building function, promote wellbeing, improve teaching and learning experience and encourage positive attitudes.
Educating children on the importance of handwashing
Experienced teachers will know the vital importance of handwashing in school. You only have to witness the lightning speed with which a stomach bug can sweep through a school for the message to hit home. Establishing good handwashing habits as a child doesn’t just keep our children healthier, it ensures the next generation of adults have better handwashing habits than us. A staggering 62% of men and 32% of women admit they don’t wash their hands regularly. Think of all the food contamination and germ transmission that could be avoided simply by getting in the habit of regular handwashing as a child. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1 million lives could be saved, along with seeing huge reductions in respiratory infections and diarrheal disease. And this impact could increase in the future, as scientists predict ever more resistant strains of illnesses. It’s imperative that we learn how to limit the spread of disease. But how can teachers go about educating their class on the importance of handwashing? Make it fun All teachers know children absorb information best when it is presented in fun and engaging ways. Simple things like singing a cheery handwashing song can make all the difference. You could also source stories about handwashing, set up sticker reward charts for children to chart their progress and have your class draw pictures about handwashing. Keep it simple Make sure the information you give your class is age-appropriate. Young children will love a basic description about germs and their dangers. You could even create a cartoon germ character – or let the children draw their own. This is a fun and imaginative way to get across that essential knowledge about infection control. Older children can benefit from a more scientific explanation, perhaps incorporated into lessons about biology. Use pictures Colourful images are the ideal thing to make handwashing tips eye-catching. Informative infographics like the one below or posters of the children’s favourite superheroes or book characters washing their hands are easy to find online. Hang them near the washbasins, on the back of toilet doors and in your classroom. The more reminders the better! Teach good handwashing technique Many adults may not realise they are washing their hands incorrectly so establishing proper technique is all-important. Common mistakes include not washing the back of hands and nails and forgetting about the soap. A quick rinse under the taps is not sufficient to kill off germs and bacteria! Teachers need to relay the importance of using soap and rubbing it all over the entire hands for at least 20 seconds before rinsing with clean water. Model behaviour Children learn by watching. And with so many of us failing to wash our hands properly, teachers need to ensure they have learnt the correct technique and use it to model good handwashing practices for their class. Get into a routine Once children get the hang of washing their hands properly, it’s time to set up a regular routine for handwashing. This includes washing hands before and after eating and food preparation, after using the toilet, after sneezing or coughing and after touching class pets. Teachers have the unique opportunity to teach the next generation to be far more hygienic than adults today. Hopefully this will have significantly positive benefits for their health and wellbeing. Image credit: Galleon Supplies