The Oaks Specialist College is a not-for-profit organisation providing learning, skills and personal development opportunities for 18 to 25 year olds with learning difficulties across Kent and East Sussex. Alongside learning and skills development, the college prides itself on preparing young people for adulthood – encouraging them to contribute to their local community as independent and active citizens.
In 2024, The Oaks contacted Let’s Go Zero for support in creating a climate action plan that reflected their ambitious approach, but also recognised the logistical complexities and nuances of SEND provision. For instance, a significant proportion of learners travelled to the college by Council funded transport and taxis, putting their transport carbon footprint well above an average setting.
While reducing their carbon footprint was part of what motivated them, The Oaks realised that by tackling emissions from their learners’ transport choices, they could make progress towards another of their key aims: empowering learners to travel independently to and from college.
With support from their Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisor, Oci, The Oaks developed a climate action plan that put sustainable travel at its heart while embedding a broader, holistic approach to sustainability across the college. Read on to hear how The Oaks successfully reduced learners’ reliance on taxi trips by 40% in just one year, and the impact this change, alongside their other sustainability wins, have had on the whole community.
It would have been understandable for The Oaks to accept high emissions from their learners’ travel as unavoidable for a specialist setting. For neurodivergent learners and those with learning difficulties, driving wasn’t an option; making their own way to college was seen as too daunting and logistically complex to facilitate. The standard approach of paying for individual taxis was not only the least environmentally friendly option – it was also the most expensive and did not reflect the college’s ethos of encouraging learners to build independence. Instead of seeing this as a setback, Project Manager Jackie Thurtle recognised the fact most learners don’t drive was actually an opportunity for an effective intervention.
One of the first actions The Oaks began working towards was to introduce independent travel training. This involved every learner who could use public transport, walking or cycling taking part in training sessions aimed at building familiarity and comfort with their route.
Jackie explains the training,
“allows us to break down tasks… it means you take a destination and start point and work out backwards exactly how that young person is going to manage that route on public transport”.
Sean, a learner at The Oaks who has benefitted greatly from the training, now travels to his work placements independently, without needing to rely on council-arranged taxis:
“It’s had a great impact and it makes me more independent, not having to rely on so many people”.
Whilst this clear benefit to learners’ sense of autonomy and employability has been a huge source of motivation for this work, The Oaks have been keen to stress the environmental benefit to their community, strengthening its visibility by completing several other transport-related actions from their climate action plan.
For instance, in addition to the training programme, the college has installed EV chargers on site and even introduced a salary sacrifice scheme for electric vehicles to incentivise staff to make the switch from fuel. By working with their advisor to build a climate action plan that includes actions involving the whole community (from teaching staff, to the catering team, to the gardeners), they have created the widespread awareness of sustainability essential for long-lasting culture change.
Buoyed by early success, The Oaks shifted their focus to embedding sustainability across the curriculum and daily life. Staff were clear that green initiatives should be visible, tangible and directly connected to learners’ personal development.
Their Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisor, Oci, provided both structure and encouragement. Chief Executive Gordon Tillman explains:
“Having help from Oci has been great and given us the template for a climate action plan which we use in the college. We’re now in year 2, having achieved most of the objectives of the year 1 plan.”
Oci and Gordon still meet regularly, so Oci can hear about the college’s progress and offer guidance on any issues they encounter. “When we have conversations, I will always come away with a couple of contacts or a couple more thoughts of something else that we could do.”
The Oaks’ successful work has delivered significant carbon savings, but two years on from beginning to take climate action with Let’s Go Zero, the greatest benefits can’t just be measured in numbers.
Learners are travelling independently to college and to work placements, building confidence, resilience and employability. They are participating in sustainable practices that are visible in their daily routines – from increased outdoor learning to making planet-friendly food choices. They are being introduced to the concept of green careers and seeing climate action modelled by staff and leadership. And most importantly, staff feel supported as they keep pushing forward with their climate action plan, knowing that their Climate Action Advisor is on hand for advice, resources and motivation.
By taking a holistic approach, The Oaks has turned perceived barriers to climate action into opportunities, cutting their transport associated carbon emissions whilst developing their learners’ independence. From transport, to food, to buildings and nature, The Oaks has taken an organisation-wide approach to climate action. By doing so, they have achieved a culture shift, embedding sustainability throughout the college’s values, estate and curriculum.
“Let’s Go Zero has been the start, the middle, and will be with us to the finish of this. Let’s Go Zero made it easy for me as chief exec to have a framework which we can then use with our staff and our learners to generate interest and awareness in all the issues that there are around climate action and the need for sustainability and looking at green issues and green careers for some of our learners.”
Chief Executive, Gordon Tillman
Climate Action Advisors are experts, who offer free support for schools, colleges, and nurseries across England. We support schools to understand their carbon impact, make effective plans, and find funding and resources. We work with schools of any size, even those that are just starting their sustainability journey. We also spotlight local opportunities for how schools can work together.
Get in touch to find out how our Climate Action Advisors can start helping your school reach it’s climate goals today.
