NAEE Manifesto Launch – NAEE launched its Young People’s Learning and the Environment Manifesto on April 28th. The manifesto aims to build on existing work in schools and colleges to further stimulate change in thinking and practice, and thus help to better prepare young people for the social and environmental challenges they will face through their lives. The Manifesto sets out 16 commitments that we think will help guide institutions to become more sustainable, and improve the education that pupils and students receive. We also set out four principles on which the Manifesto is based which we think are at the heart of what is important for schools and colleges to do in relation to young people’s learning and the environment: 1. Partnership 2. Integrity 3. Building Capacity 4. Inclusiveness. The Manifesto is on line here. We’re interested to hear from you about it. Please get in touch at: info@naee.org.uk
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DfE Strategy – Reactions to the new DfE strategy on sustainability and climate change keep coming in. We’ve collated around 20 of them here.
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From the Secretary of State – You can read what the Secretary of State said at the DfE strategy launch here. It begins: “I want to thank all of you, and my colleagues from parliament but also my team, Minister Walker who’s led on this project, and are already doing so much to reverse the damage, to put our planet on a safer, more sustainable course. We will continue, I pledge to you, that we will continue to work tirelessly with you and of course to listen, listen to you, teachers, leaders, and of course young people themselves who are shaping much of what we do in the department.”
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SDG 4.7 Report – A new report has been produced by Douglas Bourn, Director of Development Education Research Centre at UCL and Jenny Hatley from Bath Spa University, on behalf of the Our Shared World Coalition of organisations. This report has been commissioned by the network to gather evidence of the extent to which the themes of Target 4.7 of the Goals are already reflected within schools in England, and aims to demonstrate current levels of engagement in these themes, how they are being delivered, areas of success, identifiable gaps and what the priorities for policymakers should be in the future. The report is now available.
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Ministry of Eco Education – This is a collaboration of teachers working together to place sustainability at the heart ofeducation. It aims to bring together all the best sustainability teaching resources available into one cohesive and holistic curriculum for all primary schools in Britain. They have rearranged the national curriculum around broad enquiry questions to provide the kind of education that’s needed today. Working with teachers and pupils at Minchinhampton School, a curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2 has been developed that takes advantage of teaching materials developed by leading environmental organisations across the UK. They are now working with 15 pioneer schools around the country to pilot their new green curriculum over the next academic year. Their mission is to reach 10,000 schools – half of all primary schools – by 2025.
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LEEF – If you’re an environmental educator in London, but you’re not yet a member, you can find many reasons to join here in LEEF’s latest newsletter.
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Get Outside – There is less than one month to go until the next Outdoor Classroom Day on Thursday 19th May. You can sign up to join the thousands of children and teachers across the UK and Ireland who are taking learning and play outside. Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to make time outdoors part of every child’s day. On two days of action each year, teachers take children outdoors to play and learn, but the Outdoor Classroom Day community campaigns for more time outdoors every day.
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Polli:Gen – Learning Through Landscapes has now published its full report into their Pollination for the Next Generation (Polli:Gen) project, where they taught children about their local natural heritage and how to create pollinator-friendly school grounds and community areas. It’s here.
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Cities and Nature – The City Nature Challenge started last week. Here are some of the activities around Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.
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Refugees Welcome Here – New research suggests that people keen on wildlife generally welcome species that have arrived in the UK because of climate change. It seems clear that many species are leaving areas that are becoming too warm, and moving into areas that were previously too cold. University of Exeter researchers asked volunteers who contribute to wildlife recording schemes about their attitudes to various bird and insect species that have recently arrived in the UK under their own steam (not species introduced by people, which can be invasive). More detail from Exeter here.
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50 Years On – The Woodland Trust says “why not help us celebrate our 50th birthday this year by planting free trees with your local school or community.” The application scheme for free tree packs has now opened November delivery.
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Cuckoo! – Here’s an update on the British Trust for Ornithology’s cuckoo tracking project. BTO is tracking 12 cuckoos as they travel here from west Africa. There are maps that show their amazing journeys, and a lot of information on this iconic bird.
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Plantlife – says remember No Mow May and leave at least a bit of your lawn or verges untouched during the month. It says: “Lock up your lawnmower on 1 May and let the wild flowers in your lawn bloom, providing a feast of nectar for our hungry pollinators.”
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Manchester Post – The Manchester Institute of Education at the University of Manchester is advertising a lecturer post in Sustainability Education with a role in delivering a new Masters programme in education for a sustainable environment that starts this September. Full job details are here. Steve Jones, Head of Manchester Institute of Education (SJ@manchester.ac.uk) is happy to receive informal enquiries.