Tracking Changes – Last Friday, Teach the Future launched its Tracked Changes Curriculum Review. This ‘first-of-its-kind’ report reviews the curriculum for key stages 3 and 4 in the English National Curriculum, covering subjects ranging from History to Art and Design. Using a ‘tracked changes’ methodology the report suggests where and how the national curriculum can be amended to include sustainability and respond to the climate and ecological crisis. This report was commissioned by Teach the Future and facilitated by a team of leading academics, with input from teachers, educators, and education experts. NAEE was pleased to support this. The report is here and you can watch the launch here. See our blogs this coming week for more detail.
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6000 Students – NAEE has published a 10-year celebration of its Kenrick Bursary scheme which helps schools in the west Midlands provide environmental education for their students by funding visits to outdoor centres. Back in March we marked the 6000th students to benefit from the scheme which is funded through the generosity of Hugh and Anne Kenrick and their family.
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Everyday Actions – The Great Big Green Week is the UK’s celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. Between 24 September and 2 October this year, Great Big Green Week will see a wave of support for action to protect the planet. Tens of thousands of people in every corner of the country will celebrate the heartfelt, brave, everyday actions being taken to stand up for nature and fight climate change. What’s happening where you live?
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Conferences Inputs – Teach the Future will be running panel discussions at the Labour and the Conservative Party conferences. For Labour the theme is Repurposing the Education System in the Face of the Climate Emergency. For the Conservatives it is Climate-friendly schools and repurposing the curriculum. In both cases, NUS vice presidents will contribute alongside MPs and Kevin Courtney (NEU General Secretary).
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Sustainable and Eco-friendly – A recent Pearson report Schools Today, Schools Tomorrow sets out views on education in England – 2022 and beyond. Amongst many other things, it says that 60% of teachers do not think that the current education system is developing tolerant, sustainably minded citizens of the future, and 65% say that they will take steps to be a more sustainable and eco-friendly school. You can download the report here.
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Socially Just and Equitable – A revision of the national Learning for Sustainability Action Plan is underway in Scotland. LfSis a cross-curricular approach which aims to enable learners, educators, schools and their wider communities to contribute to building a socially-just, sustainable and equitable society. An effective whole-school and community approach to LfS will weave together global citizenship, sustainable development education and outdoor learning. LfS is seen as an important component of Curriculum for Excellence which is an entitlement for learners and a core part of teachers’ professional standards.
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School Environmental Sustainability – SchooliP recently ran a webinar discussing the crucial topic of managing environmental sustainability in schools. You can watch it here.
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Five Global Dialogues – From July 2021 to December 2021, OECD, UNESCO and Education International ran the Teaching for Climate Action initiative to gather teacher expertise on what makes a difference in promoting student agency and helping students to act and lead on climate matters. Teachers from across the world were invited to share their initiatives and projects through short videos on the Global Teaching InSights website. They also participated in five global dialogues including an event during COP26 to discuss preliminary insights as well as future directions for education systems. Overall, about 850 teachers contributed, with input from more than 6500 visitors across 157 countries. You’ll find their outcomes here.
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Wild Classroom – WWF says connect your learners to conservation and science experts from around the world withConservation in the Classroom. In a series of free, 45-minute virtual events, students listen as experts give a short presentation on their experience and then participate in a Q&A. The autumn sessions begin with exploring how young people can positively impact the planet with WWF activism specialist, Ryan Zlatanova, and young activist, Reid Chapman. You can register here.
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Fin-tastic Fun – Every year, ORCA invites schools from all around the UK to take part in its education programmes. Resource packs are sent to teachers to inspire them about whales, dolphins and porpoises. ORCA believes that educating the future generation about these animals and the threats that they face is key to their protection. In 2022 the key programme theme will be Adaptations and Evolution, and lessons will look at the adaptations and evolution of whales, dolphin and porpoises. The activities link in with the curriculum and provide students extra support in the topics of science, maths and English.
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Calling Bookmakers – NAAEE says Join it for an experiential session to learn more about how to use bookmaking and art in your higher education classroom. Dr Wendy Strauch-Nelson and Dr Michael Beeth (professors Emerita/us from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) will lead the session. Details here.
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4th Sunday in September – September 25th is World Rivers Day. In 2005, the United Nations launched the Water for Life Decade to help create a greater awareness of the need to better care for our water resources. Following this, World Rivers Day was established in response to a proposal by Mark Angelo. Since then, the Day is annually celebrated on the fourth Sunday of September. Last year, millions of people in around 100 countries celebrated the many values of waterways.
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Oxford Ecology – Applications are now open for a 5-week on-line course: Data Analysis in Ecology: Statistics for Ecologists and Field Biologists (2 November – 7 December 2022). This provides a thorough introduction to the key statistical principles and methods used by ecologists and field biologists. You can find out more here.
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Predators and Prey – The Inkcap Journal has a detailed article by Benedict Macdonald about the problems inherent in trying to help the capercaillie survive in Scotland without adversely affecting the pine marten. It’s an illuminating case study of a fiercely debated issue.