School cancels 'Blue Nose Day' plans to turn heating off for day after parents' concerns
Wolsingham School had planned to hold a “Blue Nose Day” on Friday to save energy and highlight to pupils the importance of being more sustainable
by James Harrison, Eleanor Busby PA Education Correspondent · ChronicleLiveConcerns from parents have seen a County Durham secondary school scrap plans to turn off the heating for an entire day this week as part of an initiative to cut carbon emissions.
Wolsingham School, in Bishop Auckland, had intended to host a "Blue Nose Day" on Friday, to encourage energy saving and teach students about sustainability.
However, following discussions with pupils' families, the school decided to cancel the event. In a letter sent out on Tuesday, the school informed parents that the heating would remain on and pupils wouldn't be required to wear additional layers.
The climate action team at the school will now reschedule "Blue Nose Day" for the summer term next year, rather than in mid-October.
The letter explained: "The event was designed to raise the importance in our school community of being more sustainable and in a small way reduce the school’s carbon footprint."
It also noted that the date had been chosen based on average temperatures and short-term forecasts, which predicted around 15C for Wolsingham on Friday.
The letter added: "After careful consideration and speaking to several parents regarding their concerns, the Blue Nose Day scheduled for Friday October 18 2024 will now not go ahead as planned."
"School will be open as usual with staff and students not needing to wear extra layers of clothing and with the heating switched on as on a normal school day."
"Students in the climate action team have already played a key part in making Wolsingham School more sustainable in other ways over the last few academic years."
"This includes the installation of filtered water coolers, meaning the amount of single use plastic, from water bottles, has been reduced to extremely close to zero."
"The climate action team will now plan for the day to occur in the summer term 2025 and will communicate with parents/carers leading up to it with details of the event."
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community for all the latest news County Durham news sent direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.