One of the key success factors of the Green-Schools programme is that it is a themed programme. That is, schools undertaking the programme work through the seven steps one theme at a time. The themes in sequence are:

1. Litter & Waste

2. Energy

3. Water

4. Travel

5. Biodiversity

6. Global Citizenship - Litter & Waste

Therefore, for a school to be working on the energy theme they must have completed the seven steps for litter & waste and achieved their Green-Flag. For a school to be working on water they would have to have gone through the seven steps with energy and renewed their Green-Flag and so on.

The use of themes helps prevent schools from trying to deal with every aspect of their environment at once which could be overwhelming. Furthermore, it allows schools to build on their experience, expertise and best practice as they work from theme to theme. However, as schools work from theme to theme they will realise that there is quite a bit of overlap between the themes (e.g. recycling waste is great way of using less energy and water to produce new products).

A theme currently in development and piloting includes:

Climate Change