Pupils at Nettlebed Community School are set to benefit from brighter, environmentally friendly classrooms after successfully applying for a schools energy efficiency loan from Oxfordshire County Council.

The county council has been running the interest free loan scheme since July 2023 to help maintained schools reduce their overall energy usage, which in turn could help cut operational costs.

The school applied to the council for around £48,000 out of an £800,000 fund to finance the classroom installation of LED lighting and/or rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, which is designed to convert sunlight into electrical energy.

Lisa Lyons, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director of Children Services, said: “We’ve already carried out 50 energy efficiency audits on our council maintained schools. The latest round of the loan scheme was launched earlier this year, with Nettlebed Community School being the first to make use of the fund.

“LED lighting makes classrooms brighter and more pleasant places to be for staff and students, so there will be practical as well as environmental benefits for pupils and teaching staff.”

The school hopes to install LED lighting during the summer break in readiness for the new term in September.

Bethany Greenwood, Headteacher at Nettlebed Community School, said: “We are delighted to be making such an impact on the school and the wider environment as part of our sustainability plan. The lighting upgrade will go a long way to reduce our carbon footprint. Our eco-council is delighted.”

Twelve other schools have applied for energy efficiency loans and details of their plans will be released in coming months.

Action on Carbon and Energy in Schools (ACES), an energy efficiency support service, funded by Oxfordshire County Council and delivered by Oxford Brookes University and Low Carbon Hub, has been supporting schools with applying for the loan.

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