A school has slashed its energy bills by simply turning things off.

For the second year running, the Cherwell School in Marston Ferry Road, has taken part in the annual ‘switch-off fortnight’, a national campaign to make schools energy aware.

The drive has been led by pupils, including Dylan Williams and Kumbi Dhliwayo, pictured, with campaign group Cherwell Earth acting as energy monitors and encouraging other children to get involved.

Teacher Steve Cappleman said: “The first switch off last year was really informative but it was difficult to know how effective it was.

“This year, we now have ‘pulsing monitors’ installed so we can have a really definitive understanding of how much energy we were using.”

Over the fortnight, energy usage on the school’s south site dropped seven per cent, saving an estimated 560kWh – lowering the school’s carbon footprint by 295kg for that period.