Sustainable Schools – Learn

Talking to Children About Climate Change

• Guide for talking to children about climate change and making sure you are being age appropriate for this emotive topic.

• Jo McAndrews talks with Extinction Rebellion on supporting children in the face of climate change

• Leeds DEC have designed a ‘Climate curriculum’ in consultation with experts suggesting key learning outcomes by the end of each key stage of learning e.g. key terminology & impacts of climate change

• What is COP and Resources for Schools

• Imagine the Future: this film helps people to think what a low carbon future could be like and inspires people to work towards this positive vision:

Understanding Eco-Anxiety

• Navigating Chaos – a host of fantastic psychological insights into hope, particularly when faced with doubts such as “it’s not enough” or “it’s not fast enough”. 

• Civil Beat – resources for stress free ways of talking to children about climate change. 

• Gen Dread – a newsletter by Dr Britt Wray on staying sane in the climate and ecological crisis. 

• An article by Dr Renee Lertzman about accepting and articulating our emotions.

• Figures to follow: climate psychologist Caroline Hickman and 21 year old activity Clover Hogan. 

Teaching Resources for Primary

• Good books for primary-age children include:
  • Little Book for BIG Changes by Kirsten Liepmann, Karen Ng, and illustrated by Mona Karaivanova
  • All books in the Wild Tribe Heroes series
  • Our Planet by Matt Whyman
  • The Journey Home by Frann Preston-Cannon
  • The Trouble with Dragons by Debi Gliori 
  • George Saves the World by Lunch Time by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts 
  • Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker

• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals designed to support human development without destroying the planet. This video explains the goals and there is a wealth of great teaching activities related to each of the goals.

• Why does eating healthily affect the outcome of the Global Goals? Plate Pioneerz.

• Transform Our World have a range of useful teacher-related resources from individual lesson plans and assemblies, to full-scale year-long programmes, on a range of sustainability and environment-based topics. Age group is specified.

• Transform Our World have a resource to help you get started with the SDGs

• Damian Gameau’s film, 2040 presents a very positive vision of a low carbon future and is a great stimulus for work on understanding climate change and how to address it. A new 2040 Education Portal provides schools and educators with a comprehensive package of free curriculum-aligned educational resources and explains how to run a 2040 film screening in your school. To get a flavour of the film, please view this interview with Damian Gameau

• Climate Science in a Nutshell– a collection of videos, aimed at older primary school children, explaining some of the key climate issues 

• WWF-UK Penguins and Polar Bears– a short film based on the book ‘How the weather works’ by Christiane Dorion

• BBC Bitesize Humans and the Environment– 3 learner guides and 9 video clips on a wide range of issues surrounding climate change

• BBC Bitesize The Regenerators – including articles plus Regenerators Lessons Age 5-7 and Lessons Ages 7-11

• Oxfam Climate Challenge– resources focusing on the human impact of climate change

• Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd) provide resources for primary school educators to teach about a number of topics concerning nature e.g. energy & climate change, water, nature & biodiversity, food & farming

• UNESCO provides multimedia educational resources for primary schools including ideas for classroom activities under the topic of ‘climate action’.

• ​Encounter Edu has compiled a list of resources for KS1-4 organised into activities, multimedia and teaching resources with both units and individual lessons.

• UNICEF UK Children’s Rights– teaching resources to enable children to learn about and campaign on children’s rights and climate change

Teaching Resources for Secondary

• BBC Bitesize The Regenerators – including materials for ages 9-13 and materials for ages 14+

• 39 Ways to Save the Planet, 14 min podcasts (BBC Radio 4) . Positive ways for tackling Climate Change and Diversity Loss, also demonstrating many innovations to inspire pupils today into working on these challenges with their IT and STEM skills development in a few years time. Suitable for 15+

• Short Film by Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot

• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals designed to support human development without destroying the planet. This video explains the goals and there is a wealth of great teaching activities related to each of the goals.
• Why does eating healthily affect the outcome of the Global Goals? Plate Pioneerz.

• WWF Shaping Our Future Campaign– materials for teaching climate change in schools

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Simple Explanation of Climate Change video. Useful for students who still need convincing that climate change is a problem that is caused by human activity

• Transform Our World have a range of useful teacher-related resources from individual lesson plans and assemblies, to full-scale year-long programmes, on a range of sustainability and environment-based topics. Age group is specified.

• NASA Climate Kids– a website designed for children to explore and learn about climate change

• The Economist Foundation–  teaching resources to spark discussion on climate change (you may need to scroll down a bit to find the relevant section)

• WWF- Environmental Footprint

• Met Office- What is Climate Change?

• Paul Turner, Head of Geography at Bedales School in Hampshire, has compiled a variety of resources in order to equip teachers to teach the climate emergency. Including material to read, videos to watch & content to teach

• Science Museum – Carbon Cycle Caper: Resources include notes for teachers, questions, process cards and a presentation. Students “play out” the carbon cycle, understand how it has affected our use of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution and its impacts on the climate

• Science Museum – Climate report: Resources include notes for teachers and templates for cubes, which the students make. Cubes cover three areas – Australia, Russia and Costa Rica – in 2011 and what could happen in 2051. Students will learn the difference between weather and climate, appreciate the diversity of climate types around the world, and its impact, and predictions of what could happen in the next 40 years

• Climate breakdown lesson plans – 14 lessons aimed at Year 10 with supporting videos created by “geography-paul” Paul Turner. Head of Geography at Bedales School in Hampshire

• Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd) provide resources for secondary school educators to teach about a number of topics concerning nature e.g. energy & climate change, water, nature & biodiversity, food & farming

• UNESCO provides multimedia educational resources for secondary schools including ideas for classroom activities under the topic of ‘climate action’. Also provide a digital library course for secondary school teachers

• Encounter Edu has compiled a list of resources for KS1-4 organised into activities, multimedia and teaching resources with both units and individual lessons

• A quick carbon footprint game. Printable game – guess the lowest to highest carbon footprint of the items

• Damian Gameau’s film, 2040 presents a very positive vision of a low carbon future and is a great stimulus for work on understanding climate change and how to address it. A new 2040 Education Portal provides schools and educators with a comprehensive package of free curriculum-aligned educational resources and explains how to run a 2040 film screening in your school. To get a flavour of the film, please view this interview with Damian Gameau

• A ‘Young Person’s Factsheet’ produced by the UK Climate Change Committee explaining Climate Change and Adaption, suitable for upper KS2 and KS3.

Energy Saving

• Join The Pod– interactive sustainability website with resources such as the ‘Switch On to Switching Off lesson plan’

• Sandringham School Thermal Imaging Case Study

Gardening and Healthy Food

• Gardens For Children Grants– list of grants you can apply to in aid of getting children gardening

• How to grow: carrot tops, cress and beansprouts, pea shoots, tomatoes

• Tree planting: Woodland Trust, Just One Tree, Tree Council

• Royal Horticultural Society– the RHS has numerous projects for encouraging gardening in school, including the RHS Campaign for School Gardening

Reducing meat consumption

• The Cheeseburger Footprint– a video explaining how much carbon dioxide is emitted in the production one fast food cheeseburger

• Take a Bite Out of Climate Change– resources for schools exploring how food choices contribute to climate change

• The Meat-Free Monday campaign is becoming more popular with schools and a number have persuaded their catering companies in St Albans District to go meat-free on Mondays. This Meat-Free Monday presentation was put together by St Albans students to persuade their school to join.

• The Wombles have been very supportive of the Meat-Free Monday campaign. Short videos and recipes are available on the Wombles page of the Meat-Free Monday website.

Creating Space for Wildlife

• Excellent information pack for schools from Wilder St Albans

• Enjoy this short video from the Ver Valley River Society about the invertebrate life in the River Ver which runs through St Albans

• Identify common British bird species

• Attract birds into your patch

• Grow a secret garden for butterflies

• Plant pollinator-friendly plants

• Build a hedgehog house – here is how!

• Build a small pond

• Further activities to attract wildlife into the garden

Arty Wildlife Activities

• Animal Crafts for Kids

• Wildlife Crafts for Kids

• Painting a butterfly with the kids

• Mini fairy gardens

• Make bird feeders from apples

• Woodland Trust– top ten nature activities

Flyers for families

Sustainable School Eco Posters

Don’t forget, our eco posters are a great thing to send home to families for discussions in the home.

Oakwood Flyers

As part of #SustFest19, Oakwood Primary School, St Albans put together 11 excellent flyers that they sent to their school community of parents and carers every day for 2 weeks. Click here to access the Oakwood flyers and do share them with your families.

Teacher and Staff Training

• Open University– Nature and Environment course

• Future Learn– Climate Change courses

• edX– Climate Change: The Science and Global Impact

• Aim Hi’s Climate Course

• Climate Conversations: Run a conversation within a group of staff colleagues, after school, either as a two hour session or two one hour sessions. If you want to talk about climate with your colleagues, but aren’t sure how, here are some ready-made materials to help you.

• Would you like to upgrade your own knowledge of sustainability issues? Check out our great blog for a wide range of free courses.