Sustainability

Think Globally, Act Locally: Our Commitment to the Environment

Gardens as our Classroom

We love and learn from our College gardens.

We cultivate an appreciation for nature.

Guardians of Nature

We respect our wild places and enhance biodiversity.

We protect our trees as guardians of our College ecosystem.

Kent Countryside Connection

We love and learn from the Kent countryside.

We volunteer, in the field, to better understand and protect our local environment.

Sustainable Practices

We recycle and save energy to reduce our carbon footprint.

We strive for sustainability in all our actions and encourage others to do the same.

Educational Outreach

As we grow, we aim to share our knowledge and practices to inspire more people to think globally and act locally.

Together, we make a difference for our College, our community, and our planet.

Year  10 students visited Howletts Wildlife Park to connect our study of Romanticism and texts such as ‘H is for Hawk’ to natural life. 

Students undertook the RIC Amphibian Conservation project on frog conservation in the school pond. Jack in Year 11 led the project, he works for the National Centre for Reptile Welfare. We tested 30 frogs for ranavirus as part of a study tracking the spread of the disease in UK amphibians. 

We volunteered monitoring the Nashenden Down site weekly to assess the biodiversity of vegetation prior to the introduction of Iron Age Pigs. This project gained international media attention when Leonardo di Caprio took to social media to share updates on the bison now roaming local woods. 

As part of the College’s Sustainable Careers Month our Year 12 students attended a sustainable technology  event at The Engineering and Design Institute, London. Students were introduced to innovative practices and designed and built their own wind turbines, looking at how they can reduce costs and promote sustainability. 

Year 7 students took responsibility for beginning the process of transforming the College gardens into a self-sustaining ecosystem. The theme for Year 7 had was water. Students have designed an irrigation system that harnesses rainwater, limiting the amount of tap water required to sustain our gardens. 

Students and staff have contributed to the inaugural Gardens Biodiversity Audit. Year 7 made bird feeders in November to help our feathered friends over the winter and to see which species we could spot in the gardens. In May, we undertook pondipping, finding sticklebacks in our stream and newts (not tadpoles!) in the pond. We concluded that the newts must be eating the frogspawn that was laid in early spring.

Year 7 have visited the river Stour at Fordwich to observe beavers’ effects on water retention and local ecosystems. We also went to Bough Beech Reservoir in Edenbridge to learn how SES Water treat and conserve tap water.

We spent a glorious couple of days volunteering at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve in Cuxton. Ben Sweeney, Reserve Manager for Plantlife entrusted RIC’s Year 7 students with the annual audit of Man orchids and Common spotted orchids at the site. Ben said, ‘This is the first time children have been involved with the vital conservation work we undertake here and they have carried it out with such expertise and skill. I am very impressed.’

Plantlife is the global charity working for a world rich in plants and fungi. Ranscombe Farm includes chalk grassland, commercial farmland, and ancient woodland, and is their flagship site. It is the foremost habitat in the UK for rare arable wild plant species in the UK. 

7A found 104 Man Orchids, in line with numbers two years ago. 7B, surveying a smaller section of the site, found 28 Common spotted orchids which will contribute to Ben's total count.

We were honoured to see two specimens of a rare varient of Bee orchid that enthusiasts have travelled from all over the UK to see. Rare Meadow clary still grows on the same site that it was discovered in 1699. We also saw Pyramid orchids and a range of other plants including another rare species - Rough mallow - along with irises and clematis (student's photo to follow).

On the second day a pair of fallow deer welcomed us as we followed Ben up the track and as we left, Alex, our Biology teacher, saw five deers on the edge of the woods.

Ben explained how he is gradually restoring the ancient woodland's biodiversity. He showed us the importance of standing deadwood for insect species.

As if to prove his point, Arlo in 7B, looking at the deadwood in an ancient pollarded Hornbeam, spotted the first Stag beetle Ben had seen on the site in his 16 years managing the estate.