Looking for a simple School Sustainability Audit that helps staff reflect on what is already working and where your school could improve?
The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Sustainability Audit has been created to help schools look honestly and practically at sustainability across everyday practice.
This is not about creating a perfect eco-school overnight.
It is about noticing the small routines, choices and systems already happening across your setting and then identifying realistic opportunities to improve.
The audit helps staff review resources, curriculum, outdoor spaces, growing, biodiversity, waste, pupil leadership, staff practice and community involvement.
It then asks one simple question:
What are we already doing well, and what could we improve next?
This makes the audit useful for outdoor learning coordinators, sustainability leads, senior leaders, class teachers, eco committees and whole-school development work.
If you are developing this area across your school, you may also want to explore our Outdoor Learning and Outdoor Learning Training guidance alongside the audit.
What Is a School Sustainability Audit?
A School Sustainability Audit is a structured way of looking at current practice before deciding what needs to change.
Sometimes schools jump straight into new projects.
A new recycling scheme, a new garden area, a new eco initiative.
But before adding something new, it is useful to ask:
What are we already doing?
What is working?
What are we wasting?
Where are children involved?
Which parts of sustainability already sit naturally within our curriculum and routines?
The audit helps you build that picture first.
That matters because sustainability should not feel like another separate school initiative.
It should gradually become part of how a school works.
Start With What You Already Have
One of the most useful parts of a sustainability audit is recognising that schools are often doing more than they realise.
You may already reuse resources.
You may already compost.
You may already have a wild area, flower beds or bird feeders.
Children may already take responsibility for recycling, gardening or caring for outdoor spaces.
Teachers may already use reclaimed materials.
Families or local organisations may already support projects.
Recognising these strengths matters.
It helps staff see that sustainability is not about starting from zero.
It is about building on existing practice.
You can explore our Outdoor Learning Pillar Page for more ideas on how everyday school resources and outdoor spaces can support sustainable practice.
Review Your Resources
Begin by looking at what your school buys, reuses and throws away.
This can reveal a lot very quickly.
Are resources being bought repeatedly when reusable alternatives already exist?
Could natural or reclaimed materials replace some purchased items?
Are resources being stored well enough to last?
Are staff sharing equipment?
Could cardboard, fabric, containers, wood, loose parts or other safe reclaimed materials be reused instead of discarded?
This is not about never buying anything.
It is about becoming more intentional.
Our Sustainable Outdoor Learning Resources guidance can help schools think more carefully about low-cost, reusable equipment.
Look at Sustainability Across the Curriculum
Sustainability should not sit only within science.
It can appear naturally across many curriculum areas.
Children might look at habitats in science, climate and land use in geography, persuasive writing in English, data handling through energy use in maths or design solutions in DT.
A school sustainability audit helps you notice where this learning is already happening and where there may be gaps.
The important question is:
Are children seeing sustainability as something connected to real life, or only as a topic they study occasionally?
This is where outdoor learning can become particularly powerful.
Children can see habitats, weather, growth, waste, water and seasonal change directly rather than only reading about them.
Review Your Outdoor Spaces
Your school grounds are part of your sustainability work.
Look at how they are currently used.
Are there areas for play, learning, growing, biodiversity and quiet reflection?
Are any areas underused?
Could a small unused corner become a habitat?
Could children help manage part of the grounds?
Do the spaces encourage connection with nature?
Could the same area support both curriculum learning and biodiversity?
Outdoor spaces do not need to be large or expensive to be useful.
Even small changes can have value.
Explore our Outdoor Play and Early Years Outdoors guidance for ideas on making more purposeful use of existing school grounds.
Consider Growing Across the School
Many schools have some form of growing project, but participation can sometimes sit with only one year group.
The sustainability audit asks you to look at who is involved.
Is growing mainly an EYFS activity?
Does one class maintain the beds?
Do older pupils participate?
Could growing link to science, food, wellbeing, enterprise or community work?
It is also useful to think beyond vegetables.
Growing can include herbs, flowers for pollinators, sensory planting, native species or simple container planting.
The goal is not to create a perfect garden.
It is to create meaningful opportunities for children to participate.
Look at Biodiversity
Take time to notice what already lives in and around your grounds.
Trees, hedges, insects, birds, grass, soil, flowers, dead wood and even small wild patches can all contribute to biodiversity.
The audit can help staff ask:
What habitats already exist?
What could be protected?
What could be added?
Are we tidying everything too much?
Could some areas be allowed to remain less managed?
Could children help observe and record species?
Biodiversity work does not need to become complicated.
Sometimes the first step is simply to notice what is already there.
Review Waste Honestly
This is often one of the most revealing parts of a sustainability audit.
Look at what the school is throwing away.
Paper, packaging, food, craft resources, broken equipment, single-use items and classroom materials can all add up.
Ask whether some of that waste could be reduced, reused or avoided entirely.
You may discover that the easiest improvements are not large projects.
They may be simple staff routines.
For example, reducing unnecessary printing, reusing containers, sharing equipment or changing purchasing habits.
Small changes repeated across a whole school can have a significant impact.
Include Pupil Leadership
Sustainability becomes much more meaningful when children influence decisions.
Ask where pupils currently have a voice.
Do they help choose projects?
Do they lead recycling?
Do they monitor energy use?
Do they care for growing areas?
Do they help design outdoor spaces?
Do they present ideas to staff or governors?
Pupil leadership helps sustainability move beyond adults telling children what they should care about.
It gives children responsibility.
That sense of ownership can be powerful.
You may also want to connect this work with your Outdoor Learning Pupil Leadership or ambassador programme.
Review Staff Practice
Schools often have sustainable routines that nobody has formally recognised.
A teacher may already reuse cardboard.
Another may avoid laminating.
Someone else may collect loose parts.
A caretaker may already manage water carefully.
An office team may already reduce paper.
The audit helps bring these routines together.
Once staff can see what is already happening, good practice can spread.
This is one of the reasons whole-school sustainability work should be collaborative rather than led by one person alone.
Think About Your Community
Schools do not have to do everything themselves.
Local businesses, parents, councils, community gardens, charities, universities, conservation groups and suppliers may all be able to support.
The audit asks:
Who could help us?
This could mean donating materials, sharing expertise, supporting growing projects, helping with habitat work, running workshops or creating longer-term partnerships.
Sometimes the best sustainability work begins by looking beyond the school gates.
Try This: Complete the Audit as a Staff Team
Do not complete the audit alone if you can avoid it.
Bring together a small group of staff.
Read through each area and discuss what is already happening.
You will often find that different people know different things.
One teacher may know about curriculum work.
A caretaker may know about waste systems.
An EYFS practitioner may know about growing.
A teaching assistant may know how pupils are already leading change.
This gives you a much more accurate picture.
Try This: Choose Only Three Improvements
Once you have completed the audit, resist the temptation to fix everything.
Choose three areas for improvement.
That is enough.
You might decide to reduce unnecessary resource purchasing, improve biodiversity in one part of the grounds and increase pupil involvement.
Three focused priorities are much more manageable than a long list.
Once those become established, you can return to the audit and review again.
Sustainability should develop gradually.
Use the Audit as Part of School Improvement
A sustainability audit is most useful when it leads to action.
You could use the findings to inform your school development plan, outdoor learning action plan, eco strategy, curriculum review or staff CPD.
It can also help demonstrate that sustainability is being considered across leadership, curriculum and daily school practice.
If you are developing this strategically, explore our Outdoor Learning Coordinator Training and Whole-School Outdoor Learning Programme for further support.
Download the School Sustainability Audit
The Muddy Puddle Teacher® School Sustainability Audit gives schools a simple structure for reviewing current practice.
It helps teams reflect on resources, curriculum, outdoor spaces, growing, biodiversity, waste, pupil leadership, staff practice and community links.
Most importantly, it helps schools identify what is already working and choose realistic next steps.
Download the School Sustainability Audit inside The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Knowledge Hub.
Want more practical outdoor learning and sustainability resources?
Start your 60-day free trial and explore The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Knowledge Hub.
You can also download our free Outdoor Learning Magazine for practical ideas, curriculum inspiration and whole-school outdoor learning support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should complete a School Sustainability Audit?
The audit can be completed by a sustainability lead, outdoor learning coordinator, senior leader or staff team. It is often most useful when several people contribute because different staff members will notice different areas of practice.
How often should a school complete a sustainability audit?
You could complete it annually or revisit it after a major improvement project. The aim is to use it as a reflective tool rather than another piece of paperwork.
Does a school need a large outdoor space to improve sustainability?
No. Sustainability can be improved through purchasing, waste reduction, curriculum choices, pupil leadership, community partnerships and staff routines as well as changes to outdoor spaces.
Can pupils contribute to the sustainability audit?
Yes. Pupil voice can be extremely useful. Children may notice waste, unused areas or opportunities for improvement that adults have overlooked.
Is this suitable for primary schools?
Yes. The audit is particularly useful for primary, EYFS, SEND and all-through settings, although the structure can also be adapted for other educational environments.
Suggested Internal Links
Outdoor Learning, Sustainability Outdoor Learning, Outdoor Play, Early Years Outdoors, SEND Outdoor Learning, Outdoor Learning Coordinator Training, Whole-School Outdoor Learning Programme, Outdoor Learning Pupil Leadership, Sustainable Outdoor Learning Resources
Suggested Multimedia
Suggested video: Sarah explaining how to carry out a simple whole-school sustainability audit without turning sustainability into another initiative.
Suggested podcast: An MPT podcast episode on sustainable outdoor practice, whole-school outdoor learning or using low-cost and reclaimed resources.
Written by Sarah Seaman PGCE MA
Founder of The Muddy Puddle Teacher®
Teacher for over 19 years
Bloomsbury author
Outdoor learning consultant and trainer
Trainer of thousands of teachers across the UK
Sarah created The Muddy Puddle Teacher® to help schools make everyday learning more practical, active, sustainable and inclusive through outdoor pedagogy.
