Church school marks groundbreaking CO2 saving project
Bishop Will joined pupils, school governors and the local MP to celebrate the completion of a groundbreaking CO2 saving project at St Peter's in Cowfold which will help protect the environment for generations to come.
Bishop Hazlewood and MP, Sir Jeremy Quin visited St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Cowfold, to open the school’s new ground source heat pump.
The celebratory day at St Peter’s was also attended by school governors, project contractors as well as the school Eco Committee members.
School pupil Charlie, emphasised: “Now instead of burning oil, we’re using warmth from the ground, and using electricity, and less carbon is produced.
“We’re here to save the planet.”
Sir Jeremy said: “It’s so important that we get the young generations on board and looking to the future. “
The Bishop of Lewes Will Hazlewood said: “This school and this project is hugely important to us.
“This is our chance to make a difference, this planet is our home, and we cannot continue to destroy it.”
During the celebrations, the schoolchildren were able to highlight their own learning about the technology and environment. And pupils from the school’s Eco-Committee, along with experts from Nicholls Boreholes were able to explain how the ground source heat pump works.
The pump is part of energy savings work at the school largely funded by a grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The scheme is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix. An additional grant came from the Diocese of Chichester. The Diocese receives School Condition Allocation capital funding from the Department for Education to support building works in voluntary aided Church of England schools.
St Peter’s was awarded funds from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to enable the project, with additional funds from The Diocese of Chichester and the School Trust.
This money meant the school could replace its old oil boilers with a state-of-the-art ground source heat pump. St Peter’s has gone from burning oil to heat the building, to completely running off electricity. The electricity is mainly from renewable sources – with the Bolney Rampion sub-station a few miles away.
A large proportion of the grant was also used to insulate the school building, so that the heat pump would be more effective. The re-insulation element of the project involved St Peter’s replacing the felt surface of the entire flat roof; as insulation was placed beneath it.
Headteacher Giles Kolter, added: “We are thrilled to have been successful to receive this vital funding. The ground source heat pump will be far more environmentally friendly than our old oil boilers.
“This was an ambitious project for us, and our whole school community, and our pupils learnt a great deal by the school being involved.
A grant we are using it to educate the children about the issues that face us, as humanity, and the solutions that we have.”
Photo left: School governor Gary Dimmock with Bishop Will.
Main photo: from left, Bishop of Lewes Will Hazlewood, Gary Dimmock, and Sir Jeremy Quin, MP and headteacher Giles Kolter, with pupils from the Eco Committee at St Peter's CE (Aided) Primary School Cowfold.