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What schools can do to help
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From adding climate change education to the curriculum, to the day-to-day running of facilities, schools can make a huge difference when it comes to climate change.
Raising awareness about climate change can also be carried out by pupils, their parents, and staff.
If you work at a school, we hope that the information on this webpage gives you some ideas of what you can do to combat climate change, and engage your pupils in the topic.
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Transport
- Encourage active travel such as walking, cycling and scooting, as well as public transport and car sharing
- Start a campaign against engine idling outside the school gates. Idling produces emissions, and is bad for air quality - which can affect children's health
- When arranging school trips, avoid flying. Instead, consider travelling by train, ferry or bus - or going somewhere closer
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Food
- Develop more vegetarian and vegan options for school meals, and consider having meat free days. This can also encourage pupils to eat more healthily
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Energy
- Develop an energy-saving campaign to encourage behaviour change (for example, switching off lights and equipment)
- Reduce the energy use of your buildings, and keep them well-insulated
- Install renewable energy, such as solar panels and solar thermal, on your buildings
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Waste
- Run secondhand uniform shops, to encourage reuse
- Review buying habits to produce less waste (for example, products with less packaging or less single-use plastic items)
- Donate or sell used furniture and equipment, rather than throwing it away
- Ensure there is a full understanding of what can be recycled onsite, to encourage recycling and reduce contamination
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On school grounds
- Take advantage of free trees for schools, as well as useful information about how to plant trees from the Woodland Trust
- Grow your own fruit and vegetables.
- Introduce pollinator projects, like building insect hotels and growing wildflowers
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In the classroom
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Form an eco council
School council initiatives have long provided opportunities for student-led projects and innovation surrounding issues such as bullying, litter picking and energy saving. But why not take this idea further by establishing a separate board for students and staff to focus on positive climate action in your school? Let your Eco Council take charge of the topics discussed and help them realise ideas for school-wide or community projects and initiatives.
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Invite inspirational speakers to your school
So much of current messaging around climate change, whilst designed to invoke reaction, can feel quite bleak, so when you want to help inspire your students, help them think further ahead to how they can grow to make a difference. Invite individuals from your community to speak about topics such as career opportunities in areas such as environmental science or sustainable architecture and design, or individuals from charitable groups that campaign for change and lobby governing bodies.
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Create an awareness week or fortnight
Creating an in-school awareness week or fortnight might take some forward planning but could be an effective way of making a difference as a collective and helping students measure their positive impact through actionable activities.
Using educational toolkits such as Transform Our World, ask your colleagues to plan how they can incorporate these resources into lessons throughout the week so that students can understand how bigger issues don’t just work in isolation. Could food technology involve designing a plant-based menu, your art students create sculptures out of recycled materials or geography lessons involve making a climate change pledge?
Here are some ideas you could combine:
- In-school educational group visits (below)
- Exhibit topical student artwork in public areas
- Hold a drama or music performance assembly
- Fundraising activities such as sponsored walks to school
- Plan a beach or park clean
- Hold swapping events for unwanted clothes, books etc.
- Implement a meat-free week to raise awareness of plant-based alternatives
You could consider creating a checklist or journal for students to use either individually or as a class for the duration of your environmental awareness week that measures the impact of activities such as walking to school instead of being driven, swapping out meat for several days a week, fundraising achieved, or the number of items saved from landfill.
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Resources for teachers
- COP26 UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021 Resources – Ideas for activities, climate leader toolkits and a comprehensive list of climate resources for all ages from across the internet.
- Earth Day resource library – includes beginner, intermediate and advanced lesson plans and activities as well as quizzes and guides on how to build support in schools for climate friendly actions.
- Climate resources for school teachers | British Council – A variety of programmes and classroom resources for ages 9-17 that all support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Climate Action.
- Key Stage 2 – National Geographic Climate Change Resources – subjects include the circular economy, recycling, water conservation and climate change.
- Key stage 3 – Royal Geographic Society Climate Change Resources – teaching resources about the changing climate and how it affects our lives. Including the buildings we live and work in, the way we travel, the holidays we take and the food we eat.
- Climate Ambassadors - Climate Ambassadors offers every education setting in England free access to volunteer support to develop and deliver impactful climate action plans.