Climate Change and Schools

The DfE hope that "by 2025 all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan"

DfE guidance on sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education
All education settings in England can now join the National #EducationNaturePark!
Ss Peter Pauls Catholic Primary Academy
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Above is a video describing the resource

What role can schools play in tackling climate change? 

 
Schools are a crucial catalyst for change as they can nurture young people to develop the knowledge and passion needed to help build a sustainable future.  
 

Climate Change is the biggest challenge facing our children. By educating young people, we can grow a generation who are environmentally conscious and armed with the knowledge and skills needed to build sustainable ways of living and adapt to the challenges ahead.  

Northumberland County Council has developed a Climate Change and Sustainability Resource Pack especially for schools in the county to help with this. It supports teacher to tell the story of climate change through a Northumberland lens.  

Engaging the wider school community

 
Schools can help drive the vital societal shift needed to tackle climate change by engaging their community, sharing advice, and leading by example. Children's learning has a ripple effect – for instance promoting active travel to school could prompt friends and family to re-think their wider travel habits. 
Astley Community High School
Seahouses Primary

Decarbonising school buildings

 
Schools in England contribute a quarter of public sector carbon emissions, making them crucial in achieving the UK's net zero goals. By cutting energy usage, schools can save money and involve students conserving energy, transforming global concerns into meaningful local action. 

Whole-school approaches to sustainability

 

OASES: Free resources or subscription with support from a team of sustainability education experts to support your school in creation and delivery of your climate action plan. 

Ministry of Eco Education: Collection of free resources to help teachers embed sustainability in every subject combined with a 5-step, whole-school climate change journey. 

Let’s go zero: Let’s Go Zero is the national campaign uniting teachers, pupils, parents and their schools as they all work together to be zero carbon by 2030. 

Collingwood School and Media and Arts College

Northumberland Schools Sustainability Network Meetings:

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Learning from each other

 
Join a pioneering network of schools and teachers in Northumberland taking action - the Northumberland Schools Sustainability Network. 

Joining the network can help your school to: 

  • Become a pioneer in climate change education 
  • Access a programme of talks, projects, activities and shared teaching resources through the wider UK Schools Sustainability Network 
  • Gain confidence in teaching climate and environment topics 
  • Learn from each other and network with other like-minded schools across Northumberland 
  • Become more sustainable, through advice, support and best practice shared across schools 

It can also help you to support your students by deciding on action and network priorities and collaborate on projects across schools in Northumberland. 

Join the network here!

Climate Confident (Keep Britain Tidy and Eco-Schools):

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