Will your school be the first to declare a Climate Emergency in Sheffield?

When I taught Maths, I often used graphs of climate data to illustrate the different ways you can display statistics. It made the lesson relevant to the students and helped their understanding of both how to draw graphs and what is happening to our climate.

The climate and nature emergencies are accelerating. We have been told by the United Nations General Secretary that “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse‑gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.” How are our local schools responding to this? 

I asked a small sample of children what their school is doing about the climate and nature emergencies and the typical response was “not very much”. In a much bigger survey, by the Royal Meteorological Society, 17% of pupils said they couldn’t remember being taught about it. But as there is no requirement to include Climate Change in teacher training, I should not be surprised.

Some local schools have signed up to Let’s Go Zero. This organisation supports schools to become net carbon zero by 2030. Schools involved include Arbourthorne Community Primary School, Norton C of E Primary, Greenhill Primary, High Hazels Junior, Byron Wood Primary, Dobcroft Infant, Forge Valley, Sheffield Springs Academy, Outwood Academy, Park Academy and Astrea Academy.

Let’s Go Zero helps schools take practical steps to get closer to nature and reduce their energy bills. They say the  Department for Education’s announcement of £500m for schools to reduce their energy use falls far short of the funding needed for a nationwide retrofit programme to reduce costs and emissions. 

They are calling for government funding to retrofit every school in the country, to ensure they stop leaking heat, carbon emissions and money. I was fortunate to spend much of my teaching career in a modern building well-equipped with solar panels, wind turbines and a giant atrium for passive heating. It is appalling that so many schools have buildings not fit for purpose. 

Eco-Schools are part of Keep Britain Tidy. They award Green Flags to schools that complete their programme. Only a handful of local schools have Green Flags, such as King Edward VII, Stannington Infants and Aston Lodge Primary. Greenhill Primary deserve a special mention as they were awarded a distinction for their Eco School application recently.

Leicester, a smaller city than Sheffield, has 65 Green Flag schools helped by the funding their Sustainable Schools team has pulled in, something that Sheffield Council should seek to replicate.   

Eco-schools believe environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution are huge global issues so the thought of tackling them can be intimidating, leaving many feeling overwhelmed and wondering where to begin.

The Eco-Schools programme provides a simple, seven-step framework which empowers young people to make a difference in their school, local community and beyond. Since 1994, millions of young people have worked through the Eco-Schools Seven Steps before being recognised for their efforts with a prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag.

Here we are fortunate to have Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire which organises an annual conference for pupils from around the county. They have excellent resources from past conferences on their website which can be adapted for schools to use. The purpose of these conferences is to raise the profile and celebrate the work of schools in addressing the climate emergency. However, places are limited. The last conference was attended by 150 pupils from 20 different schools. Some were only able to attend thanks to the support the NEU gave by providing transport. The Mayor should be supporting this excellent work with substantial funding so that more pupils can be inspired and enthused to do their bit to tackle the climate crisis. 

Tapton’s Green Initiative Group

Porter Croft Being Green

Go Go Green at Hunters Bar

The Government are introducing one big change to the secondary curriculum. From 2025 students can opt to study Natural History at GCSE. Young Conservationist and wildlife writer Kabir Kaul said: “In a time where we face climate and ecological crises, and rising eco-anxiety in young people, a Natural History GCSE will give my generation the knowledge and practical skills they need to value and protect the environment around them. I am hopeful and optimistic it will give many of them the confidence to make a difference for the natural world for decades to come.” 

However, Scarlett Westbrook is much more sceptical about the new qualification. She says “To truly be a “Climate Change GCSE”, it will need to include content on all causes of the climate crisis – from colonialism to successive governments’ failure to act on what scientists have been telling us for decades. It would also need to cover the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on demographics such as those in the Global South and disabled people.”

These initiatives are great, but what is needed is a much more radical approach to climate education that will reach all schools and prepare all our young people for the challenges they will undoubtedly face in the future.  The National Education Union has recently produced a pack explaining how your school can declare a Climate Emergency. This guide is based on Morpeth Schools’ experiences of declaring a meaningful climate emergency in London. They found the whole process extremely rewarding and immensely fun and firmly believe that if schools around the UK (and the world) roll out climate emergencies, future generations will leave schools much more aware of our climate and ecological crisis. This will empower young people to put pressure on governments and businesses to act and help many to be inspired to enter careers combating ecological degradation and global warming.  If you are a teacher, governor or pupil why not ask your school to declare a climate emergency?

Climate Learning Resources

https://climatelearningresources.org.uk/

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