Spotlighting the key role of premises managers in the school community

We had the fantastic opportunity to photograph 5 amazing premises managers we have worked with in schools across South London, to highlight their hard work and key role in the day-to-day running & decarbonisation of schools. Thank you to Joe, Antonio, Harry, Trevor & Glen for their time & continued commitment to their school communities

A portait of a man in a small office with shelves filled with coloured folder binders. The main has his arms crossed and is smiling. He is wearing a t shirt with irregular white and red stripes.

Premises managers continue to be a key collaborator on all RAFT projects involving schools, with their responsibilities ranging from opening the gates in the morning, to conducting repairs, ensuring the building opens all year round, and coordinating decarbonisation works - all whilst engaging with students and other staff members throughout the day

Despite this, they are unlikely to have had much or any formal training about how to go about these tasks or opportunity to connect with other premises managers. Yet we have seen many premises managers keen to engage with decarbonisation works, and proactively reducing heating times, installing temporary solar shading, and biodiversity measures, to reduce energy costs and carbon use at schools

This project features photos and interviews with premises managers we have engaged with since September 2022 as part of our work on Heat Decarbonisation Plan works and Premises Manager Workshops across South London

A man is standing in a narrow room which has exposed brick walls. The man is pictured side-on and is pointing at a duct above him. There is other plant equipment in the background. He is wearing a blue, red and white checked short sleeved shirt.

Joe Mortimer

Since the start of 2023, RAFT have run a series of workshops for premises managers across South London, aimed at sharing knowledge and creating networks between premises managers. During the workshops, it was frequently mentioned that premises managers are at the core of schools and without them, schools would have little chance of functioning - their responsibilities reach far beyond their job descriptions and often their passion carries them through the workload, as with other staff across the school community.

A man is standing in a white painted corridor of a school. He is standing behind a display trolley full of colorful childrens books. He is looking to his right wearing dark clothes and a beanie as well as glasses.

Antonio Pires

Throughout our work with premises managers, we have often seen them to be caring, generous, and incredibly knowledgeable. To do their job, they must have a deep understanding of all the mechanical, technical, social, educational, and physical aspects of the school. They're often the go-to person for nearly any challenge that arises throughout the course of the year, including periods when most staff are on break.

A man is standing with his arms crossed leaning on a open red door that has ventilation grills. Behind him through the doorway a plant room can be seen. There is a brick wall surrounding the doorway. The man is smiling wearing a blue hoodie

Harry Gordon

Premises managers generally understand the importance of addressing the climate crisis to ensure a habitable future for young people, but also understand that decarbonisation measures often go hand in hand with a reduction in energy bills over time, and addressing other issues across the school community. They're eager to start working on retrofit but are often restricted by their workload, finances and disconnection from other premises managers.

Two men are pictured, the one on the left standing, and the one on the right sitting behind a desk. They are both looking and smiling at each other

Glen Goode

Trevor Gustave

We hope that by continuing to work with premises managers, we will learn how to improve our approach to engagement and ensuring that our work is as beneficial as possible for school communities. One of the primary goals of the premises managers workshops is to create a space for premises managers to voice the challenges they face and connect with one another to share lessons learned, ideas and strategies they have. We want to work with them in to address the climate crisis, to and support them to engage further with the pupils to reduce energy costs, reach net zero carbon, and improve health and wellbeing across the school community.

A man is sitting on the left of the image using his hands to describe something he is talking about. He is wearing a blue hoodie and sat outside on a round wooden table. A school building a trees can be seen in the background.

A man is sitting on a rainwater planter, full of plants and made of metal, then painted dark red. He is wearing a blue, red and white short sleeved check shirt. There is a brick wall behind him and a large graphic of a footprint attached to the wall.

Two men stand in a school plant room inspecting a display on the wall. There is electrical equipment and runs visible on the walls.

A man stands in a school plantroom pointing at a fuse socket attached to the wall. There is a purple shelf visible in the left foreground. He is dressed in all black.

A man stands in front of an old red brick school leaning on metal railings. He is dressed in all black, wearing glasses and smiling broadly. There is a metal sign above his head which has lettering reading, "Gordin Brock Primary School"