School and Young Adult Opportunities
School streets
The School Streets initiative is helping ensure residents’ journeys to and from school are safer and healthier. They work to restrict motor traffic around schools during drop-off and pick-up times, and promote active travel and healthy communities.
The Council assesses streets with low to medium traffic levels outside schools to see if any reasonably be closed to motor traffic during school hours. Public transport accessibility (PTAL), air quality hotspots, traffic displacement and any road safety concerns are all considered.
Children playing on a School Street
Eco schools
Eco-Schools is a global programme that gives schools a simple seven-step framework to bring sustainability into everyday school life. It supports the enrichment of the curriculum and helps unite young people and the wider school community to care more about protecting the environment.
Hounslow Council is supporting all participating schools in their journey to achieving a green flag of excellence. In 2023, 13 schools achieved green flag status.
Teachers can put forward their school for a nomination registering as an eco-school; the Council will support with all environmental endeavours.
Young eco-activists in Hounslow
School air quality audits
Clean air is essential and a basic human right for students in the borough. As part of the clean air for schools programme, Hounslow council is offering air quality audits to all schools in the borough.
An officer from the council will attend the school to review the air quality. Assessments will be made to see what can be implemented to reduce exposure to dirty air. Funding is available to turn the recommendations into a reality.
Suggestions include ideas such as more cycle storage to encourage active travel, green screening with hedges, or air filtration units in classrooms.
If interested, please email environmental.strategy@hounslow.gov.uk
Retrofitting schools
The Council has made recent upgrades to 32 school buildings, and is moving away from fossil fuels and towards more eco-friendly infrastructure.
Schools have been retrofitted with energy-saving upgrades such as air source heat pumps (saying goodbye to gas boilers), solar panels for renewable power, LED lighting, and thermal insulation. These upgrades not only make buildings cheaper to heat and cool, but also support economic growth and jobs across the borough.
These changes will save over 1,264 tonnes of CO2 emissions and more than six million kilowatts of electricity every year.
Solar panels on a school's roof
Youth climate network
Calling all young changemakers in Hounslow!
The council has an exciting volunteering opportunity for residents aged between 19 and 25 - the Youth Climate Network.
Hounslow is looking to team up with young, passionate individuals who are ready to take on environmental and climate change challenges. Your determination and passion to help create a cleaner and more sustainable future is an important part of the borough’s climate action.
As well as helping to secure a safer, greener future for us all, joining the Youth Climate Network will provide an array of skills which can boost CVs (and the Council will provide a reference to help strengthen university and job applications).
- Written and verbal communication skills
- Team building and independent workstreams
- Presentation to a senior leadership panel and local councillors
- Running meetings (including chairing, agenda setting and minute keeping)
Community adoption of spaces
Hounslow’s new grow for the future policy will provide new growing spaces for residents and schools, enabling local communities to grow food, as well as teaching children about healthy living.
It will help tackle the enormous demand from Hounslow residents for allotments
and growing spaces since the pandemic, allowing residents to cultivate their own fresh produce in a sustainable way. Schools that are interested in transforming their unused land into growing spaces can contact cleaner.greener@hounslow.gov.uk
Grow for the Future is empowering school children