The pandemic has revealed so much about our behaviour, and has brought sharply brought into focus our metal wellbeing, and how we do business. In 2019 more than £4.2 billion was spent in the UK on language learning alone – we’re an industry that carries with it a great weight of responsibility, not to mention carbon.
In her informative, and beautifully written book, Holly Tuppen in ‘Sustainable Travel’ stresses the need to make travel count, and language courses are uniquely placed to do just that: to make travel count. Language learning has an opportunity to make a positive impact on the world.
I’ve learned, and continue to learn, that sustainable business practice is essential if industry is to prosper. Skool aims to be sustainable, to act responsibly, and make a positive impact on the environment, and on society. This is why Skool is beginning its journey in becoming a member of B Corp – we recognise the necessity for business to take responsibility for its actions, and its role in society.
Our sustainable journey has already been a catalyst for conversations with local businesses: Finisterre, OPEN Surf, Cusgarne Organic Farm, and Canteen are already trailblazing. Our conversations of sustainability are much less about accomplishing accreditation, and more about making positive impacts on society and the environment. I am fortunate to be guided by the examples of these businesses, and the examples of businessman in Europe, particularly Marco Piccolo of Reynaldi, whose sustainable business practice is both exciting and inspiring.
Next year we’re going to be running some small scale courses that marry with ideas of sustainability: ‘English with Artisans’, ‘English with Sustainability’, and ‘English with Wellbeing’. With ‘Artisans’, our students will learn to create great food with Canteen, they’ll learn to make artisanal cooking knives with Dan at Pareusi, and will even make their own surfboards with world famous shapers at OPEN. In our ‘English with Sustainability’ course, we’ll explore the initiatives of Cornish business who are blazing a trail of sustainable enterprise, and who, by the nature of their practice, positively benefit society and the environment. And with ‘English with Wellbeing’, we’ll be led through mediation and yoga practice, and we’ll also take to the water, and to the coast path: exercise has its part to play in our wellbeing – getting outside, or rather being outside is essential to a healthy lifestyle.
Skool is a small language school, and part of our commitment to sustainability is to actively remain small. Throughout the year we’ll provide personalised language course that combine: English with Walking, English with Arts and Culture, and for the more adventurous: English with Water Sports. We promise to pay heed to sustainable practice, conscious of our environmental impact and the part we have in society. We commit to fewer students – more personal attention, and above all – sustainable business practice.