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Issue 3 - January 2026
Built for Change 2026
Welcome to 2026! We hope that everyone had a restful break and has come back to work raring to go. 2025 was a busy year for the Built for Change team – putting the foundations in place so that we can hit the ground running this year and support as many settings as possible to make positive climate adaptation changes.
Below are just some of the things we are planning to do over the next 12 months to support you as educators and school staff, which have been guided by conversations with our pilot settings:
- Webinars – see below for details of the upcoming BEMS support webinar, plus more in the pipeline
- Guidance documents on how to adapt buildings to climate change, including tips on how to look for funding and deciding what to prioritise
- Practical documents to support this guidance, including heat and flood plan templates, low- and no-cost behavioural actions and advice and tips that can be shared with your wider school community
- Signposting to partner agencies who can support with planning, funding, educating and delivering climate change action in education settings
- Find and apply to collective funding on behalf of suitable settings across Sheffield
Thank you to all the settings that have engaged with us so far to help decide the direction we should move in. As we move into our next phase, we'd value your continued help so that the support we offer is as useful and reaches as many education providers as possible. Please:
- Share this newsletter with colleagues so they can sign up to the mailing list
- Tell us what you want us to support with – send us an email or fill in the short questionnaire via the button below to let us know what would be most helpful for you
Taking a step towards sustainability
Each newsletter, we will share a simple, low- or no-cost action that you can take as a setting to reduce the impact that climate change has on your building and students.
It's the time of year when flooding is a risk, as rainfall is at its peak and the water table is high. Whether your setting is in a flood zone or not, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of water damage and disruption caused by heavy rain and flash flooding. By carrying out some basic site checks you can reduce the risk of future flooding, and stop small issues before they become a big problem.
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Sign up for flood warnings on the Gov.uk website.
- Note where water flows onto your site during heavy rain, and use sandbags or other defenses to divert water where possible.
- Check on all drainage whilst it is raining – are gutters and downpipes blocked or leaking, are ground drains flowing freely? Plan to fix these as soon as it’s dry!
- Check if water is getting into the building – do doors and windows all shut and seal, are there any basement areas that need to be monitored?
- If any low-lying areas of the site are at risk of flooding, move items that may be damaged to higher ground.
- Encourage students to come to school with a spare set of clothes - sitting in wet cold uniform all day is not conducive to happy children or learning!
- Check out the flood planning guidance at Connected by Water
Help shape national Outdoor Learning CPD
Sheffield Hallam University are currently gathering the views of secondary school educators and school/MAT leaders across the UK to help The Wildlife Trusts design a national CPD blueprint for outdoor learning (funding provided by the Ernest Cook Trust). They'd be grateful if you could take 10 minutes to complete the online survey. Your responses will directly inform the development of a flexible, evidence-informed CPD programme designed to support educators, pastoral teams and senior leaders across diverse secondary settings. Whether your school has extensive or very limited outdoor space and regardless of your familiarity with outdoor learning, your input will help understand current practice, the challenges you face, and what would make outdoor learning more achievable and sustainable for your school. As a thank you, participants will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win a £20 voucher. To complete the survey follow the link below.
Managing your heating and BEMS effectively
21st January 2026, 10am - 11:30am
Built for Change is hosting an online workshop led by experts from Mott MacDonald and Sheffield City Council’s Facilities Management team. This workshop will support education providers to understand the best way to manage your buildings and grounds in hot and cold weather, and how to get the best and most cost-efficient output from your heating systems.
During the workshop you will learn how buildings respond to heat and cold weather, how behavioural and operational changes can significantly improve the temperature of your building, and how you can make changes to your heating system to save money and regulate temperatures.
The workshop is suitable for any staff who have responsibility for building management at a school or trust level.
Register your interest in attending using the button below.
Carbon Literacy training for school staff and governors
Sheffield Hallam University’s Sustainable Schools network is offering Carbon Literacy training for school staff, governors and trustees on 21 January 2026 and 12 March 2026. The course is designed to help participants deepen their understanding of climate change, become accredited Carbon Literate individuals, and gain practical skills to reduce both personal and organisational carbon footprints.
Participants commit to completing a short pre-work activity, attending a full day of learning, and creating at least one meaningful carbon-reducing action individually and within their education setting, as well as completing an open-book assessment on the day. The training uses the new Carbon Literacy Toolkit for Schools, is delivered by Lee Jowett (Climate Change and Sustainability Research Fellow at SHU), and costs £75 per person, including lunch, refreshments and external certification. To sign up click the button below.
Power of 10 Festival - Another Way
Power of 10 will be a day for young people in South Yorkshire (and beyond!) to learn more about how to take climate action, full of interactive workshops on different climate skills, opportunities to meet lots of local and national charities, and even an MP question time. It will be an opportunity to learn new skills, be inspired about green careers, connect with other schools around Sheffield and South Yorkshire and to boost engagement with new climate projects.
The festival takes place 6th March 2026 at Sheffield Hallam. It will run from 9.00am – 3.15pm. Another Way are offering up to 15 places per school for students, 11-18 years old, who are interested in environmental issues. They can cover transport costs, with a bursary of up to £200, and it is free to attend.
To book your place at the festival email Elli Clarke at elli@another-way.org.uk
Let’s Go Zero education setting workshops
Let’s Go Zero are hosting a number of online training sessions and workshops over the coming months, as well as a back catalogue of webinars that you can watch at any time. Topics range from the role of Sustainability Lead to retrofitting your building, and are free to join. Click the button below to see all topics.
Sheffield City Council Building Energy Management System (BEMS) service
Sheffield City Council have upgraded their BEMS support offer, and can roll it out to all suitable educational settings, whether local authority maintained or academy. The service includes:
- A standard "Heating Season" of October to May
- Bespoke heating policies to help change staff behaviour and reduce energy usage
- Utilities cost savings through building optimisation
- Help working towards net zero
- Maintenance reduction through real time monitoring, (many issues can be looked at online and sometimes solved rather than calling out engineers to fix trivial issues).
- Data driven decision making, using your building's data to make energy improvements
The service costs £400 per annum, which is usually offset by energy and maintenance cost savings. For more information contact the SCC Facilities Management Team via the button below.
Workplace Charging Scheme
The government is offering financial support for state-funded education settings to install EV chargepoint sockets on their site. The grant will cover 75% of the cost of installing chargepoints, and up to 40 sockets per institution. The closing date for applications is 31st March 2026.
Have you been forwarded this email by a colleague and would like to sign up to the Built for Change network for Sheffield schools, early years and further education providers?
The Built for Change programme is being delivered by Sheffield City Council in partnership with:
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