Spring term 2025
Halfpenny Lane Junior, Infants and Nursery School
Each term we spotlight a Super Hero School or Academy Trust that is making great progress towards integrating sustainability into their curriculum and school activities. This term we are thrilled to feature the great work of Halfpenny Lane Junior, Infant and Nursery School, part of the Pontefract Academies Trust.
In January, the Energy Heroes team had the pleasure of visiting Halfpenny Lane to deliver our Energy Heroes programme. We were inspired by the fantastic work that their eco team has done to promote sustainability across the whole school, guided by their Eco Lead Tracy Shilton. The passion of their pupils to take care of the environment was evident throughout our visit and we are proud to name them as our Super Hero School this term in recognition of their commitments to embedding sustainability into everyday life.
To learn more about their success, we spoke to Eco-lead Tracy Shilton to discover what has contributed to their achievements in sustainability.
“What activity has taken place to build sustainability into the curriculum and into day to day school life?”
At Halfpenny Lane Primary School, sustainable living is woven into everyday life, with students and staff making eco-friendly choices as part of their daily routines. Professional Development is a key part of our school offering, and we do this through providing opportunities to learn about Eco opportunities and difficulties in the real world in every curriculum lesson, whether that be English, Maths, Music or Art. We also build time into the curriculum to discuss sustainability around the world through Lyfta Education and each year group takes part in Aspire projects where the children take their own initiative to plan and deliver actions to make a real difference in their local community.
We have an active Eco council which consists of students and staff, who help to provide new targets and initiatives to help raise awareness and exciting opportunities to work together to help our world. In the autumn term, we took part in the International Walk to School Month with winners celebrated in each year group.
In November, we planted over 600 bulbs in our school grounds, giving every child hands-on experience of the life cycle of a plant. Now, we are focusing on developing our outdoor area by growing our own food through Peter Rabbit and Dig For Victory themed allotments.
We always look out for opportunities for links with other organisations and within the community and this year have already benefited from educational workshops from Energy Heroes, Yorkshire Water and Biffa, as well as taking part in competitions with Keep Britain Tidy and Planet Pizza.
“Tracy, what is your motivation to do this work within school?”
I took on the role as Eco Lead in September 2023, as I am passionate about providing a curriculum where every child can interact with nature and take part in impactful environmental actions, so that they can leave school with the confidence, abilities and desire to make the world a better place. It has been a great journey so far, as we have made big steps towards making this happen! It’s such a rewarding job watching the Eco excitement spread across the community, and now children and staff share the same vision and show such care about making a positive difference, working together to achieve this.
“What advice do you have for other schools wanting to improve sustainability in the school and curriculum?”
To help start our journey at Halfpenny Lane, we used the strategy: ‘start small but to think big.’
Joining the Eco Schools Network really helped with the initial identification of actions that could be carried out to start making a difference. We have found our success has been driven by the number and range of people working towards the same goal including pupils, teachers, teaching assistants, the caretaker, cleaning staff and headteacher. In 2023, we started with a group of 6 enthusiastic children who were ready to change the world, and now we have a 50+ Eco group that meet weekly after school as well as a staff who feel empowered to take actions to make a positive difference. In September 2023 we did not recycle as a school, but now it happens in every class as well as other schools in our area following our example.
Well done to Tracy and all of the passionate pupils and staff at Halfpenny Lane. You are true climate Superheroes!
Congratulations from all of us at Energy Heroes. We are inspired and impressed by the progress your school has made, and we especially love the ‘start small think big’ approach. Every person can make a difference no matter how small, and pretty quickly these small changes add up to a huge impact! We are confident that your work will inspire and motivate everyone who reads about it.
Has your school or MAT been making strides in energy saving and sustainability?
If so, we would love to hear about it – and you could be our next Super Hero feature!
You can email us at hello@energyheroes.org.uk or complete this online form: We are a Super Hero School!
