This is Teach the Future’s end of year update.
With only a few days left of 2023, we wanted to get in touch with a quick update on our work over the past few months, rounding off an amazing 2023 and prepping for 2024 to be our most impactful yet. We rely on volunteers and your support means a lot to our campaign. We also wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for your support – and wishing you a lovely, relaxing winter break!
This has been such an important year for the climate movement, for activism and education. At Teach the Future we are proud of our impact in 2023, but this is far from the end. We will keep campaigning for robust climate education across the UK and beyond. 🌎
What’ve we been up to in 2023?
Scotland – We’re part of the Scottish School Grounds Collective!
We’re collaborating with Learning through Landscapes Scotland and several other organisations to improve the quality and use of school grounds in Scotland, both for new build and existing spaces. This ties in closely to our campaign asks, specifically ask 4: “Educational buildings put at the front of the queue to be retrofitted to net-zero standards”. We are proud to be a part of the conversation in these collective efforts towards a robust and progressive climate education system for all.
England – We published our response to Gillian Keegan MP, current Education Secretary!
We wrote to Gillian Keegan earlier this year to ask for better action from the Department for Education, and received a signed response from her. We took issue with several of the implications made in the response, such as that the current standard of climate education to geography is acceptable.
We held off publishing the response due to the RAAC crisis, when we recognised that the Department for Education had other priorities. Now, however, this has been published — check out our blog post on her response, where there is also a link to our full response!
Northern Ireland – We have completed our Asks!
Northern Ireland is in a very difficult place budget wise – with huge funding cuts, particularly for Education. Recognising this, we have created achievable Asks for our Northern Irish campaign. We were also delighted to see better climate education recommended in the Independent Review of Education, a very clear acknowledgment of Teach the Future’s engagement with the panel.
Wales – We hosted our Parliamentary Reception!
Our Wales team had the opportunity to present our updated campaign asks to MSs, students, teachers, academics, and representatives from youth, environment, and educational organisations, at the historic Pierhead in Cardiff Bay. Read all about the event in our blog.
What are we planning for 2024?
General Election Campaigning
We’re always working on our next steps and evolving the campaign to suit the needs of climate justice education across the UK. Right now, we are working on our plans for the General Election to make sure that the MPs who will represent us in the next Government will take action to improve climate education in schools.
Join us as we turn the tables on parliamentary candidates by scoring them on our climate education report card. The results will be displayed on our website so that voters can see how their local parliamentary candidates scored ahead of the UK General Election.
Upcoming vacancies
We are recruiting up to 4 Campaign Organisers to support the progression of the Teach the Future campaign. This role is ideal for a young person passionate about campaigning for change, climate justice and climate education! See more information on our vacancy page.
Read about the outgoing staffs experience and skills in our latest blog, “National Organiser Reflections”. We’ll also be posting from our staff team on social media so make sure to check those out!
Find out more and apply by the 15th January 2024, 12:00pm GMT. More details are available on the SOS-UK Jobs Page.
What can you do to further support Teach the Future?
As a student:
- Become a volunteer and help shape our campaign – you can register your interest here, and we’ll be in touch.
- Ask your school/college/university to promote and support Teach the Future by becoming a supporting organisation – it’s free for them to do this!
- Email your MP/MSP/MS/MLA using our form. Make sure to personalise it if you have time, make it clear that they represent you and this is an area of concern!
- Follow us on social media
Twitter – @_teachthefuture
Instagram – @_teachthefuture, @ttf.scot, @ttf.wales, @ttf.england
Facebook – Teach the Future
As an adult supporter:
- Share and promote Teach the Future with your networks, such as friends, family, colleagues or any volunteer groups in your area.
- Email your MP/MSP/MS/MLA using our form. Make sure to personalise it if you have time, make it clear that they represent you and this is an area of concern!
- We fully appreciate that not everyone has disposable income right now, but if you do and would like to support our work through a donation, you can do so here.
- Follow us on social media
Twitter – @_teachthefuture
Instagram – @_teachthefuture, @ttf.scot, @ttf.wales, @ttf.england
Facebook – Teach the Future
That’s all from us for now, we look forward to giving you more updates and insights very soon! Thank you again for your support over the last year and all the best for 2024!
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