Cognita is a worldwide group of schools in Europe, Latin America and South-East Asia. It employs some 7,000 teaching and support staff in the care and education of more than 40,000 pupils.

In the UK, there are 40 schools stretching from Huddersfield Grammar School in Yorkshire to King’s School & Nursery in Plymouth.

Cognita's approach

The Cognita approach is to preserve the ethos, values and culture of each school, but enable them to benefit from the investment in facilities and support, which a worldwide family of schools can provide.

Competitively priced service

We’re proud to say that Cawleys has won the contract to manage the waste across 40 of Cognita’s schools in the UK. This is not something which a parent might think about when choosing a school, but it is all part of the organisation which goes on behind the scenes of a well-maintained school. Cawleys uses the very latest technologies and solutions to minimise waste and achieve zero waste to landfill for schools, whilst also providing a competitively priced service on a nationwide basis.

Caring for our environment for the next generation is very important to us at Cawleys, and part of our work for the Cognita Group will extend to helping spread the word about sustainable working practices within schools.

Teaching children about climate change

A new study, commissioned as part of Bristol’s year as European Green Capital, asked the opinions of 316 primary school teachers and 92% felt they should be teaching children about the effects of climate change, while 51% said the topic should be a “high priority” in primary school education, regardless of the curriculum.  Therefore, we are aware that teachers also care deeply about this subject, and starting with best waste management practise in schools is a great place to begin.

Bespoke waste management

We have conducted a waste audit at every single school and identified a bespoke waste management solution for each establishment.

We’re already working for 27 different school sites including the North Bridge House Schools in North London, St Clare’s in Wales, Long Close School in Slough and Akeley Wood School in Milton Keynes. In addition, we’re providing waste management services for the Cognita head office which is also based in Milton Keynes.  We look forward to completing the roll out of our services across the other Cognita schools within our contract across 2016.