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.
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.
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.
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:
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.