Horsford Primary School on Holt Road has won this year’s Energy Sparks Pupil Power Award, receiving a £400 prize for its pupil-led work to reduce energy use.
The award is presented to the school that provides the strongest evidence of pupils taking action to save energy.
At Horsford Primary, those efforts led to a 9% reduction in electricity use and a remarkable 27% reduction in gas consumption.
Nikki Webb, Senior Energy and Carbon Consultant at Energy Sparks, said:
“Horsford Primary’s Pupil Power Award is richly deserved. Not only has the school taken wide-ranging action to tackle energy waste, it is clear that their students have been at the very heart of everything.
“We loved the way the Eco Team linked activities together to make informed decisions (for example measuring classroom temperatures and then using this data to advocate for changes to their heating settings). We also really admired the way school leaders listened to their students, the way they tracked whether their actions were making a difference, and the fact that they shared energy-saving challenges with their wider community through the school newsletter.
“At Energy Sparks, our vision is of a sustainable future in which the school community is at the heart of measurable action to tackle climate change. Horsford Primary is the very embodiment of this and we would like to say thank you and a big well done to everyone who was involved.”
Between September 2025 and June 2026, the school recorded 53 activities through the Energy Sparks programme.
Children established an Energy Team, appointed energy monitors in every class and set a school-wide energy reduction target. They encouraged good habits across the school through assemblies, posters, displays and reward schemes, while also carrying out regular checks on lights, electrical equipment and classroom conditions.
The project combined awareness-raising with practical investigation. Pupils monitored classroom temperatures and light levels, examined thermostat settings, used thermal imaging equipment to identify heat loss and worked with the school’s headteacher to review heating controls and operating times.
Holiday energy use was another area of focus. Children organised switch-off campaigns, created checklists and helped investigate whether heating and hot water systems were being left on unnecessarily when the school was unoccupied.
Alongside their energy-saving work, pupils explored wider environmental issues, including food waste, and helped develop a climate action plan for the school.
The programme concluded with pupils sharing their work more widely, highlighting the changes they had made and the savings they had achieved.
Lindsay Homans, Teaching and Learning Lead, said:
“We are excited to receive the Energy Sparks Pupil Power Award and be able to put the £400 towards our sustainability projects in school. The children in our eco team have worked hard all year to make changes in school to help look after the world and it’s great that this has been recognised and celebrated.”
One pupil in the eco team said:
“I’m happy about getting the prize because we put in hard work to make these changes for our school happen. We can buy new equipment for the eco team to help us continue our hard work. The new Year 2s and Year 1s will be able to join and be part of the eco team. This is important because we need a big team to make changes at school and at home, and for the planet.”
Image credit: Horsford Primary School/ Energy Sparks