Education Today Education Today Magazine
Young people, their parents, and even the Government are increasingly looking to schools to cover environmental topics like climate change.
Yet a survey conducted by Twinkl found that while 92% of educators felt that teaching about climate change was very important, 70% said they lacked the confidence to do so.
Eco-anxiety has become an especially important subject with 40% of children and young people in the UK saying they are very or extremely worried about the impact of climate change. The good news is that taking ‘eco-actions’ can help reduce eco-anxiety. And that is where programmes like Keep Britain Tidy’s Eco-Schools in England can help.
The programme has now teamed up with naturalist, eco-journalist, and author, Sarah Roberts (pictured above) to produce a series of videos to help teachers educate children and young people about these important topics and get ‘climate confident’.
In the series, Sarah reflects on her own experience of having attended an Eco-School as a child and fondly recalls having been on the Eco-Committee of the wildlife club she started. Sarah credits this experience with having inspired her career as a naturalist, eco-journalist, and author who has worked all around the world.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Education Manager, Adam Flint, said: “Speaking to dozens of teachers each year, we know just how daunting environmental topics like climate change can be. That is why Sarah was the perfect partner for this series. She just makes these topics so interesting and accessible for teachers and pupils alike.”
The five-part series covers the basics of climate change, getting the global agenda of the school’s agenda, eco-anxiety, using the school environment and layering climate change across the curriculum.
The series also contains information and advice about how to make schools more eco-friendly. It is estimated that registered Eco-Schools in England last year saved more than £330,000 on their energy bills last year thanks to their pupils’ eco-actions.
You can watch the complete series on Keep Britain Tidy’s Eco-Schools website, and there is still time for schools to sign up for the Eco-Schools programme this year: www.eco-schools.org.uk/eco-projects/climate-confident/