Environmental sustainability is the responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and wellbeing, now and in the future.

Eco Schools

Dorothy Stringer School has been part of the Eco School programme for nearly 30 years and has held the Green Flag status since 2000. Most form groups have an Eco Rep and the Eco Committee have carried out a wide range of ‘green’ projects over the years, including recycling schemes, energy reduction projects, walk to school and litter campaigns.

Our City Our World – Sustainability, Climate Change and Environmental Education Strategy

We are delighted to be one of the nine pilot schools in this new programme developing our curriculum in response to the climate and biodiversity crisis we are facing whilst adapting the whole school systems in a move towards Net Zero.

Year 7 Environmental Education Course

Unique to Dorothy Stringer, this course sets out to engage and enthuse our students using our extensive outdoor classroom, connecting them with the natural world through species identification, habitat management and ecological surveying techniques.   

Biodiversity

We have been rewilding our school site for over 20 years, creating a wide range of habitats for students and staff to study and connect with through formal lessons and during breaktimes. We cannot take every student to the countryside, so we have brought the countryside to them. We have a large pond with decking that allows for a full class of students to explore this dynamic habitat. The school woodland has managed and unmanaged sections, allowing for students to investigate different microclimates created by the nature-positive rotational coppicing process that humans have done in Sussex for thousands of years. Working with Big Nature, we are proud to be an active part of The Living Coast UNESCO biosphere region. 

Butterfly Haven

Our biggest success is our nationally acclaimed Butterfly Haven where we have transformed an area half the size of a football pitch into one of the most species-rich nature spots in the whole of Brighton & Hove, with over 30 species of butterfly recorded here. Students study the site in their Environmental Science lessons as well as in Art, Photography, Geography and Science lessons. The site is accessible to the public as it sits along Stringer Way and has an active group of volunteers from the wider community helping to manage it, along with the Sussex Wildlife Trust Sheep that visit once a year.

Energy

We currently have 54kW system of solar panels and are exploring more options. We are part of the Energy Sparks programme and are actively trying to reduce our energy consumption.