The Royal Meteorological Society and Met Office are delighted to announce this award to recognise excellence in weather and climate teaching, over and above the normal requirements of the National Curriculum or exam specifications.
Who can apply?
Any UK school – early years, primary, secondary or FE.
How to apply?
Send no more than 1 page of evidence to demonstrate that, in the last 6 months, your school has fulfilled 2 or more of:
- Running a weather station, involving the students in the observations and using the data.
- Making other regular weather observations.
- Making regular contributions to WOW (data or photos) or share data via a community or school website.
- Running a weather blog regularly for at least 3 months.
- Having some sort of ongoing connection with a STEM ambassador in connection with weather or climate related activities.
- Running a weather club, or doing weather or climate related activities as a significant part of a science or geography club.
- Evidence of good weather fieldwork. Incorporating weather measurements in other fieldwork.
- Borrowed and used instruments from the RMetS.
- Created a 3D model of the Central England Temperature record and used it in teaching.
- Planned, launched and evaluated a weather balloon launch with a significant meteorological learning aspect to the launch (not just ‘teddy into space’).
- Cross-curriculum weather or climate topic.
- Teacher as active member of RMetS education committee/ virtual education committee.
- Teacher attended weather training day delivered by RMetS or completed a significant proportion of Come Rain or Shine.
- Some other evidence of excellent weather or climate teaching over and above the normal requirements of the National Curriculum or exam specifications.
Applications should be sent to education@rmets.org
There is no charge associated with applying for the MetMark.
Schools will be awarded a dated certificate signed by the Chief Executives of the Royal Meteorological Society and the Met Office as well as an electronic badge for the school website.
You may like to use this optional template to submit your application.
Geography Quality Marks
If your school is also putting together an application for a Secondary Geography Quality Mark then it is worth noting that the MetMark would be suitable evidence for any of the section B1 criteria (a – e) which demonstrate the quality of teaching and also D1 c which demonstrates making links with external agencies.
If your school is also putting together an application for a Primary Geography Quality Mark then it is worth noting that the MetMark would be contribute towards sections A1 (pupil knowledge), A2 (pupil skills), T1 (teacher knowledge) and L3 (leadership).
Recipients
- Kilmarnock Academy, East Ayrshire
Building on their 2022 MetMark, students at Kilmarnock Academy engage with local flooding adaptation measures, and were involved with East Ayrshire’s 2023 Climate Change Conference. They have also engaged with Eco Schools and Climate Action Week.
- Tanbridge House, West Sussex
Tanbridge House students benefitted from borrowing a KS3 instrument kit from the RMetS in 2023. In addition, students are continuing to maintain a weather diary.
- Outwood Primary Academy, Littleworth Grange
The teachers in this school imaginatively engage their students in creating, using and evaluation weather instruments and making and presenting weather forecasts. This information is shared with parents through the class twitter. In addition, weather is included in the school’s geography club.
- Danes Hill School, Surrey
Building on their previous MetMarks, the teachers and students at this school continue to use their school weather station extensively in geography and other lessons. The data from their weather station is shared through the WOW website. In addition, students use handheld instruments to carry out microclimate investigations in the school grounds.
- Ulidia Integrated College, Carrickfergus
- Kilmarnock Academy, East Ayrshire
- Wychwood School, Oxford
- Abingdon Science Partnership, Abingdon School, Oxfordshire
- Sunningwell C of E Primary School, Abingdon
- Kingsthorpe College, Northampton
- The Appleton School, Essex
- Thomas Becket Catholic School, Northampton
- Millais School, Horsham, Sussex
A teacher at Millais School took the Come Rain or Shine online weather CPD course and used it to update the school’s teaching resources and shared their learning with other members of staff. The school has a weather station which it uses to engage students with the current weather throughout their year 8 weather and climate topic.
- Danes Hill School, Surrey
Building on their 2017, 2018 and 2019 MetMarks, the teachers and students at this school continue to use their school weather station and other weather instruments extensively in geography and other lessons. The data from their weather station is shared through the WOW website. In addition, some year 8 students looked at the Learn about Weather online course.
- Co-op Academy North Manchester, Manchester
Teachers at Co-op Academy North Manchester have completed the Come Rain or Shine CPD course and are now running a very active Weather Club with year 7 students. They hope to introduce weather teaching in other cross curricula and extra curricula activities over the coming year.
- Holme Community School, Cumbria
Students predominantly in Early Years and KS1 at Holme School have used weather instruments to explore the school microclimate and prepare local weather reports. They have also made their own instruments and linked their work to maths and science topics.
- Wychwood School, Oxford
Wychwood School has been running a weather station for two years, using the data from it extensively in lessons and sharing the data widely. In addition, students have been using home-made and simple equipment to make observations of their school microclimate.
- The Downs School, Berkshire
Teachers from The Downs School completed Come Rain or Shine, the RMetS CPD course for teachers as well as other Weather and Climate CPD. In lockdown, students created simple weather instruments and used them to record data. Combined with their learning, this data was used in an enquiry “will it be a white Christmas”.
- Didcot Girls’ School, Oxfordshire
Students in the school’s Science Club were able to work with an expert to develop their climate literacy, including through using the En-Roads climate solutions simulator. A teacher from the school attended a weather subject knowledge enhancement day delivered by the RMetS.
- Kingsthorpe College, Northampton
Teachers from Kingsthorpe College completed Come Rain or Shine, the RMetS CPD course for teachers and used this to inform their teaching, particularly through including demonstrations of the basic physical processes driving our weather. In lockdown, this led to students making weather instruments and collecting weather data at home – resources which were shared with teachers across the UK. In addition the school is linked to Northampton Natural History Society’s Meteorology Society and to the UN CC:Learn programme.
- St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Northampton
Teachers from St. Mary’s school, including the Head Teacher, completed Come Rain or Shine, the RMetS CPD course for teachers and used this to inform their teaching, particularly measuring and presenting weather data. In lockdown, this led to a cross-year weather project with the key worker children in school. In addition, the school has an active Eco club which looks at climate change.
- Lordswood Girls’ School, Birmingham
A geography teacher from this school has worked together with colleagues from the science and maths departments to improve the quality and relevance of weather and climate teaching across the school and using meteorology as an application for key skills. In addition the school has an Automatic Weather station which provides weather data which is used in lessons and a teacher from the school has worked with the Society to support the development of new resources.
- Harry Roberts Nursery School, Tower Hamlets
The Deputy Head Teacher of this Nursery School completed the Come Rain or Shine online weather course and adapted her learning for this early years setting. The school ran a fantastic and imaginative cross-curricula lockdown weather week, supplying families with resources which can be reused in future years.
- MEA Central, Manchester
Teachers from this school completed both the Come Rain or Shine and the UN’s CC:e-Learn courses. The school runs an active eco club which focuses on climate change, conducts weather fieldwork in the school grounds and runs an automatic weather station.
- Bredon Hill Academy, Gloucestershire
This school uses their weather station data extensively in and out of lessons. In English lessons students use the weather conditions to stimulate descriptive writing and vocabulary expansion.Data from the station is also shared with WOW.
- Haydock High School, St. Helens
After attending a weather and climate subject knowledge CPD day run by the RMetS, teachers at Haydock High School borrowed instruments from the Society to conduct a microclimate investigation in the school grounds. Students were also given the opportunity to prepare and present a green screen weather forecast having been provided with synoptic charts and other weather data, and took part in a mock climate negotiations event.
- Ulidia Integrated College, Carrickfergus Teachers from Ulidia College attended a weather and climate subject knowledge CPD day run by the RMetS and took their learning back into the school, updating their year 9 and 11 schemes of work as a result. The school also has an automatic weather station, which it uses to supply data for lessons and clubs.
- Eltham College, London Eltham College runs a KS3 Met Club as well as using activities based around a Stevenson Screen as a transition activity from primary to secondary school.
- Atwood Primary Academy, South Croydon Atwood Primary Academy borrowed instruments from the Royal Met Soc and used them to very good effect with year groups from 1 to 6 to support learning. Year 4 also collected and used readings from their school weather station throughout the year.
- King Edward VI Grammar School, Essex Students from the KEGS geoscience club ran a weather station and made weather instruments, comparing the data collected by both. They explored different ways of presenting their data, and shared it via the school blog.
- Danes Hill School, Surrey Building on their 2017 and 2018 MetMark, the teachers and students at this school continue to use their school weather station and other weather instruments extensively in geography and other lessons. The data from their weather station is shared through the WOW website.
2018
- Colyton Grammar School Academy Trust
Colyton Grammar School runs an active weather club, engaging students in making weather instruments and recording and interpreting weather data with both simple weather instruments and a weather station. In addition, they were involved with the launch of a weather balloon.
- The University of Birmingham School
Throughout KS3, this school teaches weather, focussing on observations of local weather and incorporating extensive fieldwork.
- The Appleton School, Essex
The subject leader for geography at this school completed the Come Rain or Shine weather CPD course which has been particularly beneficial to A level teaching. Students lower down the school complete extensive weather fieldwork locally, increasing their awareness of local weather conditions, particularly during extreme events.
- Bishop Road Primary School, Bristol
In 2018, this school engaged in an exciting all school, cross-curricula weather themed topic. Associated activities included fieldwork, launching a weather balloon, maintaining a weather diary for Bristol and another global location, weather themed fancy, craft/ experiment activities, drama, poetry and much more.
- Danes Hill School, Surrey
Building on their 2017 MetMark, the teachers and students at this school continue to use their school weather station and other weather instruments extensively in geography and other lessons. The data from their weather station is shared through the WOW website.
2017
- Bredon Hill Academy, Gloucestershire
This school uses their weather station data extensively in and out of lessons. Data from the station is also shared with the local community.
- Lordswood Girls’ School, BirminghamA geography teacher from this school has worked together with colleagues from the science and maths departments to improve the quality and relevance of weather and climate teaching across the school and using meteorology as an application for key skills.
- Danes Hill School, SurreyTeachers from this school have both attended training days run by the RMetS and taken the FutureLearn CPD course to improve their understanding of weather. The school runs and makes good use of its weather station, online local weather data and fieldwork opportunities.
- Larbert High School, StenhousemuirThe school’s very strong application included evidence of involving students in a national rainfall measuring project, focussing on the weather in both their Geography Club and digital learning topics and choosing weather as a topic to meet various aspects of their curriculum requirements.
2016
- Holy Trinity Primary School, Halifax
Holy Trinity school has been doing some excellent weather work, particularly with its younger pupils. There has been an active weather club as well as ongoing weather observations. Older students have been following global extreme weather events in the news. - Down High School, Downpatrick
A teacher from Down High School has had a long and productive interaction with the RMetS. In 2016, she attended a one day CPD course to improve and refresh her weather knowledge and is a member of the Society’s virtual education committee. This will help us improve our support for schools in Northern Ireland. - Robert Fitzroy Academy, Croydon
To support their ‘whatever the weather’ themed cross-school science week, Robert Fitzroy Academy borrowed weather instruments from the Royal Met Soc. Also, every class kept a daily weather diary for a week, every lesson for the entire week was linked to the weather, including dance and music, weather forecasts were videod, each class made their own weather instruments, stories about the weather were read and role-played and they made weather symbols. Photos from the week showed how creative the students were.
2015
- Maiden Erlegh School, Reading Maiden Erlegh school has run an active weekly weather club for the last 7 years. They run a weather based Twitter handle. Data from their school weather station is used across the school. One of their teachers has both supported the RMetS and regularly looked to the Society for support with instrument loans etc.
- Redmoor Academy, Hinckley Redmoor Academy has worked together with an expert from a manufacturer of weather instruments to improve their weather fieldwork and to learn about weather observations. At a science fair, they created a human weather station to demonstrate how it works to visiting primary students!
- Reigate Grammar School, Surrey Reigate Grammar school students calibrate and maintain their Automatic Weather Station, which shares data globally through the WOW website. They have a weekly weather club which recently launched a weather balloon. One of their teachers has worked closely with the RMetS.
- St Mary Magdalene Academy, London St. Mary Magdalene students have made fantastic use of their school weather instruments and weather station in conducting micro-climate investigations and learning about the weather and weather instruments.
- West Bridgford School, Nottingham At West Bridgford School, the weather is included in geography teaching with almost every year group and weather data is also used in science and maths lessons. In 2015, year 9 and 10 students measured the weather during the partial solar eclipse. Year 7 students record their weather observations on the WOW website.
- Ninestiles School: An Academy, BirminghamOne of the geography teachers at Ninestiles has been involved with the RMetS for several years, attending a weather subject knowledge day as a trainee teacher and then regularly borrowing weather instruments from the Society to improve the fieldwork opportunities for their students. He is also an active member of the Society’s virtual Education and Outreach committee. The school recently installed a weather station and is beginning to use it for teaching and enrichment.
