Sussex, Surrey and Kent schools urged to ditch flights for greener school trips

Sussex, Surrey and Kent schools are being encouraged to join Flight Free UK Schools, a free initiative helping schools reduce carbon emissions from educational trips by replacing air travel with lower-carbon alternatives.

 An online talk takes place on Tuesday 17th November at 7pm to coincide with COP31 as part of the Time is Ticking series. The talks are free and details can be found at www.cagne.org or the CAGNE Eventbrite site.

 CAGNE, the umbrella aviation community and environment group for Sussex, Surrey and Kent, is highlighting the scheme as a practical and positive way for schools across the region to support climate action while continuing to offer inspiring learning experiences beyond the classroom.

Flight Free UK Schools works with schools to reduce emissions from school trips by reducing or removing the need for flights. The initiative is not an anti-aviation campaign, but a supportive programme designed to help schools make informed, lower-carbon travel choices that can also reduce costs, ease travel pressures and make trips more inclusive for pupils and families.

Schools can take part at bronze, silver or gold level, depending on what is realistic for their community. A school might begin by replacing one trip by air, or it may choose to work towards becoming completely flight-free.

Flight Free UK provides practical support for participating schools, including carbon calculation of existing trips, suggested flight-free destinations, route-planning advice, and help communicating the impact of changes to the wider school community.

Sally Pavey, Chair of CAGNE, said: “Many schools are already working hard to reduce their environmental impact. Flight Free Schools gives them a practical, free and flexible way to look at travel choices and show pupils that positive climate action can be part of everyday decision-making.”

She added: “This is about working with schools, not telling them what to do. Even one flight-free trip can make a difference, and it can open up memorable, affordable and accessible learning opportunities closer to home or by train, coach or ferry.”

Participation in Flight Free UK Schools is free and can sit alongside existing school sustainability work. Schools can find out more at flightfree.co.uk/flight_free_schools/, including a case study of Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, a gold-level Flight Free School.