Francis Review – The latest in our series of posts about the Francis Review of the national curriculum were published last week. All the posts can be found here. More will be published during October. Do let us know what you think.
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More Francis – The Review’s call for evidence was launched last week and we are all encouraged to take part and share views and insight, based on our own experiences, by filling in the survey before the deadline on November 22nd. There will be regional roadshows, sector roundtables, polling of parents, and expert panels, across the next few months, to ensure the review is informed by a diverse range of perspectives. Click here to read more about the consultation and it’s role in the review.
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Rebalancing Learning and Assessment at GCSE – A new report from OCR says that the current volume and intensity of exams at GCSE is too high, and an overloaded curriculum is narrowing students’ education. It notes in particular that “There are two glaring omissions from the current curriculum: climate change education and digital literacy”. See Striking the balance: a review of 11-16 curriculum and assessment in England.
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New Connections for Nature – Communicate 2024 will take place from November 26th to 28th and here is the programme with new speakers now added. This year there are live conferences in Manchester, London, and Bristol, and online #Communicate2024
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TEESNet Conference – Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti is the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. She is a former Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change and a former David Lam Chair in Critical Multicultural Education. Vanessa will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2024 TEESNet conference in Liverpool on December 3rd. There are more details and tickets here.
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Choosing our Futures – A new World Bank report assesses the impact of climate change on education in low- and middle-income countries and examines solutions to harness education for climate action.
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Key Young People – The OVO Foundation’s new report The State of Climate Education: opportunities to engage with a new Labour government has now been published. It was launched at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool at the fringe event: How young people are key to achieving Labour’s net-zero goal.
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Children of the Apocalypse – Here’s an article by Chris Bayliss in The Critic which casts a critical eye over what young people have been taught about climate change and its likely outcomes. Chris writes about energy policy @baylissbaghdad
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Embedding Sustainability – Responsible Futures is a development programme from SOS-UK in partnership with educational institutions and their students to embed sustainability in all student learning. A recent report highlights four key outcomes from a decade of the programme. It includes case studies and quotes.
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Greening Learning – The Greening Education Partnership is a platform for climate education resources through four pillars of action: greening schools, greening curriculum, greening teacher training, and greening communities. The Partnership has recently published two resources:
- Green school quality standard: Greening every learning environment
- Greening curriculum guidance: Teaching and learning for climate action
Both publications support the ambition that at least 50% of schools in each country and the curricula of 90% of countries will be climate-ready by 2030.
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Going Zero – Let’s Go Zero says that it currently supports more than 3,500 UK schools, colleges and nurseries working to be zero carbon. It says that, with a new term underway, now’s the time for more schools to take part. Joining brings benefits and opportunities – including free help from Climate Action Advisors who offer support on everything from cutting waste and energy use to getting funding for green projects. Let’s Go Zero Schools also get access to competitions and resources. Details here.
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Culture & Heritage – As part of the UN Sustainable Development (Global) Goals week, the UKNC joined with the British Council and the 2030hub to co-host a policy discussion on how culture and heritage shape how we connect with others, how we see the challenges around us, and how we choose to respond to them. Taking place in Liverpool, UNESCO City of Music, the debate explored the crucial role of local actors and actions for supporting sustainable development by showcasing how local cultural and heritage projects help address global challenges, with a focus on climate change.
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COP Climate – Climate Week was the brainchild of the non-profit organization, The Climate Group and ran from September 22nd to 29th. It began in 2009 as a side event to the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York to provide some discussion prior to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties later that year, the event has since morphed into a week-long event for anyone with an interest in climate action. With over 580 events over one week in 2023, with both in-person and virtual attendance options, the Climate Group estimates that the event reached over 6.9 billion people last year. More detail here.
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Rewilding Cambridge – Across January 17th and 18th 2025, Citizen Zoo is hosting its Rewilding Conference at the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge with over 450 participants. The theme is ‘Rewilding Futures: Shaping Tomorrow’s Wild’, and with the rewilding sector evolving rapidly, this event will explore what the future holds, featuring unmissable presentations, expert panels, audience Q&As, and networking opportunities.
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Asking Wye – Over 30,000 member of the public signed the Stop Killing Our Rivers petition which calls on the government to clean up the River Wye and other UK rivers impacted by pollution from industrial poultry production. Ahead of World Rivers Day on September 22nd, the Soil Association was joined in Hereford on by Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, Dr Ellie Chowns who agreed to take the petition to Parliament. The petition calls for a ban on new intensive chicken units, support for farmers to exit the industry and for action to reduce chicken consumption to more sustainable levels.