OFSTED, the school inspection system, finds that most schools tick all the boxes for socially acceptable behaviour, good attendance, punctuality, homework in on time, respect for the property of others, the use of litter bins and, for some, a strong spiritual message.

Speaking from experience I know how hard the well educated and committed adults work for the benefit of their students, often sharing with them their own school experience, training and interests, but there’s little emphasis on future changes.

Ofsted also misses the need to address the different world a generation ahead. Then there will be nine billion humans maltreating the planet, and CO2 levels will have ensured that global temperatures are close on three degrees warmer than in 2000, the Arctic will be ice free in summer, and sea level will be rising noticeably as land based glaciers melt.

Thoughtful schools will be very much aware and insist that the individual production of CO2 is reduced where possible. There’s not much point on having solar panels on the school roof if the habits of the people below produce excessive CO2, and I would expect school policies to reflect this, which is why I hope they are not seduced by all the travel company offers.

A return flight from Manchester to a ski resort in the USA or Canada would release around three tonnes of CO2 per passenger, almost a third of the current yearly total for a UK resident. It’s more than the complete annual total from more than thirty farmers in Malawi. It’s ignorant, thoughtless, harmful and greedy.

Schools could make the point about personal carbon responsibility by publicly discounting trans-Atlantic venues, and either fly to the Alps, at an eighth of the CO2 per person, or reduce it to one fifteenth by train travel.

It’s the students’ future, so think on.