ASCL Sustainability Conference 2026

Early bird discount until 5 December 2025
Member:  £175+VAT
Non-member: £199+VAT 

Standard rate (after 5 December 2025)
Member: £245+VAT 
Non-member: £265+VAT 

Group discount
10% discount for groups of two or more
 

ASCL reserves the right to amend the programme should circumstances dictate.
 

Curriculum: Curriculum Leadership in a Changing Climate                                               
Heena Dave, Co-Founder, Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE)
Elaine Francis, Head of Sustainability and Advisory Headteacher, Reach2 Academy Trust

How can school leaders support children and young people with their climate emotions while strengthening curriculum quality? This session introduces an evidence-informed curriculum framework built on three mechanisms: knowledge, self-regulation, and collective action. We will deep dive into self-regulation, recognising that supporting children and young people with their climate emotions is critical to high quality climate change education.

Drawing on findings from a groundbreaking research study involving 238 primary children in England, this session shares how an arts- and philosophy-based curriculum intervention supported children to process climate emotions alongside rigorous subject learning.

You will hear directly from a school leader within the trust that led this research, gaining insight into what the intervention has meant in practice. They will share how it influenced outcomes for children, how it reshaped curriculum thinking across the trust, and what it has required of school leadership to embed climate change education coherently and strategically.  

Operations: Joint session (20 minutes each)
New vs Refurbished IT: Making sustainable, informed procurement decisions          
Bobby Mitchell, Managing Director Pure IT refurbished plus school leader
 
This session will explore the environmental impact of IT hardware choices, comparing new and refurbished devices across their full lifecycle. It will cover the different types of refurbished hardware available, how organisations can reduce carbon footprint in use, and what good, ethical and legally compliant IT disposal should look like in practice.

Exploring Sustainability and Climate Change Linked to AI
Christian Turton, EdTech Lead, Chiltern Learning Trust
This session will explore the positive and negative links between AI and sustainability. It will consider the challenges and some of the potential considerations that schools can both build in to their strategy and guidance for staff, curriculum for students and consider in the choices they make. 
 

Curriculum: Flourishing in a Climate-impacted World: The role of school leadership                 
Rachel Tomlinson, Headteacher, Borrowford Primary School
 
How can school leaders enable children and young people to flourish as climate impacts increasingly shape their world?
 
In this session, Rachel, a headteacher and senior leader of YESfest, will share her expertise in creating opportunities for children and young people from all backgrounds to place solutions in their own hands, creating space for agency, creativity and joy. She will reflect on why flourishing is a leadership priority and what it looks like in action.

Rachel will also draw on her participation in a six-month research project with school leaders across England examining how accelerating climate impacts are reshaping the role of school leadership. This work recognises that school leaders play a critical role in equipping children and young people to respond to an increasingly climate-impacted world. She will share what the group learned about preparing school communities for growing climate pressures and what this demands of school leaders in the years ahead.

Operations: Why Sustainability and Estates Strategies Work Better Together         
Matt Isherwood, Associate Partner, Barker
Chris Berry, Chief Operating Officer, Windsor Academy Trust
 
Sustainability ambitions fall flat without an estate strategy to match. This fast‑paced session shows how aligning the two unlocks smarter investment, lower costs, and real carbon reduction where it counts. Delegates will discover practical tools to turn plans into action and create estates that are efficient, future‑proof, and designed for learning. With sharp, real‑world insight from Chris Berry, COO at Windsor Academy Trust, you’ll leave with clarity, confidence, and a roadmap to lead meaningful change.

The conference is suitable for business leaders (including director of estates and sustainability leaders), CEOs, headteachers, senior leaders, trustees and governors, and including colleagues in independent and post-16 settings.