Motivation

Keeping the School motivated on the Using Less Stuff scheme is one of the most important roles. It is important to recognise that it is not just the staff and pupils that need to stay motivated but also the governors and the parents. Below are some techniques on how to motivate staff, pupils, parents and governors.

All Staff and the student body

• Helping staff and students if there is a concept they might not be able to grasp – if someone doesn’t understand something they are less likely to get involved.
• Publicly praising staff and students- it is important to praise these individuals who have excelled. This could be done during a whole staff meeting or in an assembly for the students.
• Encouraging staff to reward each other – create a ULS teaching trophy for those individuals who have exceeded expectation. Have the last winner select the new winner.
• Small gifts or incentives can go a long way. Even if it’s a bottle of wine for the staff or a box of chocolates, incentives like these will motivate people to work harder.
• Giving staff and students a voice – if they are passionate or have believe in a particular topic let them share it and see how you could incorporate that into one of your projects.
• Displaying results – if you were to have the monitoring on display somewhere in the School people would be able to see that what they are doing makes a difference and will give them purpose.

Parents

• Keeping parents in the loop for what is going on around the school will encourage them to get involved and to get their children to keep up the same behavioural habits at home.
• Just like rewarding the staff and children, parents could also receive small gifts if they contributed to organising an eco-event or made a significant difference to their habits.
• Similar to publicly praising, the parents could receive a special shout-out in the monthly email that goes out on Using Less.
• Offer a suggestions box so that their ideas are also acknowledged.
• Seeing their children involved and enjoying the Using Less Stuff Scheme will motivate parents in itself. Make sure to give certificates to those students who made excellent contribution as parents will be motivated by seeing their children being so passionate.

Governors 

• Governors will be motivated by seeing results – this is why it’s so important to see Using Less Stuff as something that involves everyone!
• They will be motivated if what they are working towards enhances everyone in the school and wider community (which Using Less Stuff does).