November 19, 2014 3.56 pm This story is over 112 months old

Lincolnshire schools go dark for the Switch-off Challenge

Lights out: Schools across Lincolnshire shall be switching off the power as part of an energy saving challenge.

Schools in the county, including a Lincoln secondary school, will turn off their lights as part of a challenge to save energy.

Grimoldby Primary School, Allington Sedgebrook CE Primary School, Osgodby Primary School, Kirkby on Bain Primary School, Marton Primary School and others will be taking part in the Switch-off Challenge on Friday, November 21.

As well as the lights, computers, interactive white boards and all non-essential electrics will be turned off for the whole day to try and get schools thinking about ways to save energy.

Each school will take two meter readings during the challenge to compare to readings taken on a normal day.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Schools Collaboration on Resource Efficiency (SCoRE) team will collate the results. Prizes will be given to the three schools with the biggest reductions.

SCoRE project officer Emily Neville said: “The switch-off challenge is a great way to get teachers and pupils thinking about their energy use, and what simple changes they can make to reduce their consumption.

“Utility bills form a significant part of a school’s controllable budget, so using energy more wisely could save money as well as reducing the building’s carbon emissions.

“Previous switch-off days have seen schools reduce their energy use by up to 58% compared to a normal day, and we’re hoping everyone will be able to reduce it by about 50% this November.”

Schools can sign up for the challenge by registering with [email protected], which will send a free resource pack.