Energy Day 2021
The venue: The largest community solar farm in the UK
The Energy Day events were hosted at the Leys solar farm which is part of at the Heart of England Community Energy Solar Farm, the largest community solar farm in the UK and it is situated just outside Stratford upon Avon.
HECE is supported by local investors and supplies enough power for 4500 homes as well as funding local good causes. It is important that more local people are made aware of the farm and how they can support it by investing in a bond offer which will launch in the autumn. This provides an opportunity for people to invest in locally sourced renewable energy, supporting long term environmental sustainability as well as good local causes that help to reduce fuel poverty and other socially disadvantaged people.
The schools who took part
Thomas Jolyffe Primary School
57x Year 4 kids on 12th July
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School
28 x Year 5 kids on 13th July
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School
22 x Year 6 kids on 15th July
The energy day activities.
Throughout July and August 2021 a total of 105 children attended the Energy Day at Leys Solar Farm, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon.
Kate Evans, Graduate Planet kicked-off the day with an introduction to renewable energy and invited the children to share what they already knew about energy and conservation.
Julie from STEM Matters ran a human national grid activity so the children could understand how energy is distributed across the UK.
Julie then briefed the children on a fun Wind power challenge where the children made a wind turbine out of old materials...
… before testing their solution with a rechargeable battery powered hairdryer and finding ways to improve their design.
HECE, Anesco and Graduate Planet took groups of 15 children on a tour of the solar farm where they learned how it works and about career opportunities in renewable energy.
Act on Energy brought home insulation to life through an activity involving cardboard homes and recycled insulation materials.
With STEM Matters children experimented with generating electricity powered by solar and kinetic energy to power light, sound and movement.
Richard from Act on Energy challenged them to a relay race to collect different coloured energy balls to power home appliances.
Our Impact
And finally, Kate from Graduate Planet asked them to make her a cup of tea and then quantify how much energy they’d used in cups of sand.
Before going home Act on Energy shared out LED energy saving lightbulbs and competition entry forms.
We featured in the local newspaper which increased local awareness of the solar farm and sustainable education in the region
An article published in the Stratford Herald on 15 July 2021 showcased the unique and fun experience the children and teachers had.
Impact measurements
We asked the children a question at the beginning of each activity and the same question again at the end to measure what impact we had made.
The questions were:
Q1) Hands up if you know what renewable energy is?
Before
School
After
% Increase
-
Thomas Jolyffe Y4
2. St Gregory’s Y5
3. St Gregory’s Y6
7
5
3
55
15
20
686%
200%
566%
Increase
484%
Q2) Hands up if you know ways to save energy?
These were the results!
2. St Gregory’s Y5
School
Before
After
% Increase
1. Thomas Jolyffe Y4
3. St Gregory’s Y6
12
14
6
57
20
22
375%
42%
267%
Increase
228%
Huge Thank You!
To all of the people that helped us do it...
Our Funders!
Orbit Group specifically funded the Thomas Jolyffe’s Energy day.
And those who supported the event for Free
Special thanks to Anesco and HECE
Anesco and HECE took the children on tours of the solar farm and provided them with a unique opportunity to see a real solar farm in action. This was an exceptional chance for the children to grasp how solar energy works first hand and gain an insight into the types of careers available to them in this industry.
- Huge thanks to HECE who own the solar farm for granting us access to the solar farm, for planning the events, and in particular to Eric Appleton who helped run the tours around the farm
- Huge thank you to the Anesco team for: Access to the solar panels, space to run the workshops, Health and Safety, the Solar Tours - in particular Tom from Anesco who co-ran the tours. Thanks to Dave for getting us the new High Viz Jackets. They also funded most of the day and enabled us to buy important materials that can be reused, such as solar circuits for the circuit activity and battery powered hairdryers for the wind turbine activity.
- CFR helped organise the school trips and coordinated the Health and Safety risk assessment and measures between the school and HECE and Anesco
- NFU Mutual provided the workshop chairs for free
And Thanks for the paid support.
-
CSJ Events Warwickshire provided 17 pop-up tables at a great price for our Energy Day workshop.
-
We bought electrical circuits from them at a good price and they are very keen to promote the use of their products at solar farms
-
We received a friendly, efficient and cost effective service from TW Toilet Hire who we plan to use again
And Thank You to our wonderful educators!
STEM Matters - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths education experts deliver fun educational workshops to children.
Act on Energy - Encourage energy conservation by providing free and impartial advice to householders and small businesses in the midlands area.
Graduate Planet CIC - Which is a social enterprise recruitment agency that reinvests 100% of profit into environmental sustainability education workshops.