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. When the series is complete, we shall share it with Francis team. More posts will be published during October. Let us know what you think.
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Education Global – A report from the OECD offers a guide to the state of education around the world. The 2024 edition focuses on equity in education and provides indicators on gaps in outcomes.
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Sustainability Hub – The GTC Scotland Learning for Sustainability Hub has a range of resources that are freely available for educators from across the UK. There are also opportunities to get together online with with speakers on a monthly basis. The next session will be on November 14th with a focus on LfS in initial teacher education.
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Annual Nature – The first Nature Park annual report has been published. In it you can read about the aims and design of the programme, as well as the impact so far. Highlights include:
- More than 1 in 8 schools and colleges across all regions of England have joined the National Education Nature Park programme in its first year
- Children and young people have mapped more than 2 million m2 of habitats across the education estate, equivalent to about 1,600 Olympic-size swimming pools, and created new habitats including green walls and ponds
- As part of the programme, more than 500 schools and nurseries in disadvantaged and nature-depleted areas have been awarded a share of a £5 million grant to turn grey areas of their school grounds green
You can read and download the full report, and a snapshot version, here.
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Skills and Growth – Skills England is a new arms-length government body whose remit is to tackle skills shortages and support sustained economic growth. The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, says in the report that: “By setting out our vision to meet skills needs, the report invites members across the skills system to use key data insights to inform, challenge and build towards a responsive and collaborative skills system, aiming to align with the future Industrial Strategy.”
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Outdoor Mental Health – Outdoor learning offers numerous mental health benefits for both pupils and their teachers. There are free curriculum-led outdoor activities from Learning Through Landscapes for World Mental Health Day on October 10th .
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Global Neighbours – There’s a new accreditation scheme aimed at helping pupils speak out on global issues. Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours aims to help students understand more about the inequalities in different communities and help them become courageous advocates for change and a fairer world.
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Palm House Pollinators – Kew’s Community Horticulture Programme offers a new audio tour which explores the plants in its 175-year-old Palm House. Pollinators of the Palm House explores the remarkable story of Kew’s living laboratory; a glasshouse which is home to species from some of the most threatened environments in the world. The audio tour examines the pollination tricks of some of Kew’s most incredible plants. There’s detail here about Kew’s learning programmes.
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Battery Houses – The House of Commons Library has a report on battery storage systems [BESS]. There are now over 100 of these in operation in the UK, but the FT reports that they are hugely underused because of antiquated IT systems. Industry estimates say that there was a total installed capacity of around 2.4 gigawatt (GW) to 3.5 GW in 2023.
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30 by 30 – The latest annual update from the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition of environmental and countryside groups shows that less than 3% of England’s land is effectively protected for nature, with only 10% of seas effectively protected. Ahead of the global COP16 meeting for nature in Colombia this month, conservation groups are calling for a “rapid rescue package” for UK nature, with more land designated for protection and restoration, improvements to existing protected areas and reform of farming and fisheries. The Independent has a report.
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Rescue Me – It’s National Recycle Week, 14 October – 20 October. The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘Rescue Me’ which focuses on rescuing recyclable items heading to the rubbish bin. Those in the know say that recycling at least one extra item as part of our daily routine will make a huge difference. Details here.
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Fashion & Diversity – An Art UK resource uses historical artworks to explore how fashion from the seventeenth century to the present day has impacted biodiversity by encouraging the hunting of endangered species. See: Dressed not to kill: fashion and diversity.