Hoodies and tracksuit bottoms - and the other ways schools in Lancaster & Morecambe are fighting soaring energy bills

Gas and electricity bills across the four schools within the Bay Learning Trust – Ripley St Thomas CE School, Central Lancaster High School, Carnforth High School and Morecambe Bay Academy – are expected to double at least, according to its chief operating officer.

“However, that rise in bills is still below the Government’s cap, so our costs have to be met by existing school budgets,” said Andrew McKinnell.

“Schools are generally older buildings which aren’t the most energy efficient or environmentally friendly, however we are currently looking at making our school buildings greener and more sustainable,” he added.

Morecambe Bay Academy already has a ground source heat pump installed and the trust is also exploring installing some solar panels and LED lighting to reduce its energy costs and carbon footprint as part of a wider energy and sustainability strategy it is implementing this year to reduce energy and carbon usage over the longer term.

As the trust’s schools also operate as community hubs, it has no plans to reduce the school hours or the staffing costs at this time, Mr McKinnell said.

Pupils at Willow Lane Community Primary School in Lancaster have already been used to wearing a warmer uniform in class after it, along with many schools, saw winter fuel costs rise last year when full heating was required as windows had to be kept open for ventilation during the Covid pandemic.

“This meant that many children already had to wear coats,” said Lucy Naylor, who is the headteacher at Willow Lane.

“For us, we moved to a warmer uniform of tracksuit bottoms/leggings and a hoodie or fleece that can be worn in class so I suppose it actually went some way to prepare us for this year. “

Willow’s gas bill has been projected to increase by 150% and electricity by 83%.

Ministers have recently announced that they will limit school energy bills for six months with a review in three months’ time. However, the National Education Union (NEU) has heard reports of schools across the country facing real hardship and particular difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, especially school support staff, and they blame what they say is persistent Government underfunding.

“The vast majority of schools across our area and the country as a whole just do not have any reserves to call on, following year after year of squeezed budgets during austerity. This will mean that our children have to go without,” said Siobhan Collingwood of Lancaster and District NEU.

“Schools will not be able to offer the same richness of curriculum offers, class sizes will go up, there will not be enough staff to meet the individual needs of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) children, IT equipment will not be updated, and repairs to school buildings will go unaddressed. These are the decisions that school leaders are already making to try to balance the books.”