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Celebrating the International Day of Education

Today UNESCO are celebrating the International Day of Education, recognising the role of education for peace and development globally. The role of education is becoming ever more important as the global society develops in the face of a changing climate.

Climate education is one of the most effective forms of climate action, and the foundations should be laid at school. Climate education should not only ensure ‘climate science’ literacy, but also focus on climate action and solutions and look at both the roles of individuals and organisations or administrations, all whilst steering away from causing climate anxiety.

But are the current curricula across the UK providing the climate education to ensure students leave school with the basic climate literacy, enabling them to engage with messages put to them by the media or politicians, and to make decisions about their own personal responsibilities? The Society believes that school education should ensure that students do leave school with exactly this level of climate literacy.

 

The Society’s current and future education work

The Society’s Education Team works to support the delivery of climate education, whether that be supporting changes to the curricula, providing weather and climate CPD for teachers, or providing classroom resources.

Today, we would like to highlight and celebrate some of the work the education team is currently working on, and what there is to look forward to in the first half of the year:

  • Launching and collecting responses for the 2025 Climate Literacy Survey

If you teach, or communicate with those who do teach:

  • Year 11 (England/ Wales)
  • Year 12 (N Ireland)
  • S4 (Scotland)

Please participate in the 2025 Climate Literacy survey.

This builds on the 2023/2024 Climate Literacy report that was published by the DfE at the end of 2024. By collecting data annually, we hope to evidence the impact of changing curricula and other education policies or national scale interventions on the climate literacy of school leavers across the UK.

  • Developing new climate change adaptation resources for GCSE geography

These new resources will feature two new extreme weather case studies, including a heatwave case study in the UK. The resource will also support the teaching of global adaptation strategies, a term the 2023/2024 Climate Literacy Survey identified poor understanding of.

 

  • Weather and Climate subject days for Geography PGCE students

We provide a subject specific training days to students training to become geography teachers. Secondary geography teachers probably have the best opportunity to deliver climate education in the current curricula. Supporting the foundation of their weather and climate knowledge will strength the teaching of current and future students and reduce the misconceptions which we often see being taught.

With the education team growing in 2024, we have been able to reach more courses and students than ever before.

 

  • Weather and Climate: A Teachers’ Guide – More for Teachers CPD videos

The Education team are making 20 new short videos to support teachers’ CPD. These videos accompany ‘Weather and Climate: A Teachers’ Guide’, a scheme of work for geography students aged 11 – 14+ years, and closely follow the CPD material, ‘More for Teachers’, published alongside the guide.

Latest from the blog

Teaching resources

Secondary Science
A classroom resource where students submit an (imaginary) application outlining a plan to reduce global warming and increase biodiversity by replanting kelp forests
Secondary Geography
Adaptable resource covering climate zones, climate graphs, emissions, contour drawing, map and graph skills in the context of Azerbaijan.
Secondary Geography
Lower secondary fieldwork resource exploring heatwaves in the school buildings and school grounds, potentially leading to adaptation opportunties