Curriculum Review: A Chance to Equip Students for a Greener Future

The RMetS welcomes the Department for Education’s curriculum review as an important step to equip society more effectively for the opportunities and challenges posed by climate change.

The Department for Education is seeking views from stakeholders to share their perspective on potential improvements to the curriculum and assessment system. The call for evidence invites stakeholders to submit proposals on improving the curriculum and assessment system.

As the leading authority on climate education within the UK, we believe that every child should leave school with the basic climate literacy that would enable them to engage with the messages put forward by the media or politicians; to make informed decisions about their own opportunities and responsibilities when it comes to climate change; and to equip them with the knowledge and skills required for the green jobs of the future.

Our position regarding the Curriculum Review is as follows:

• All students should leave school with some climate literacy irrespective of their subject and qualification choices.
• Students should leave school with the ability to apply their knowledge, understanding and skills to the real world as it changes and develops as well as their personal situations and careers.
• The curriculum should be flexible enough to adapt as understanding, technology, relevance and situation changes.
• Climate education should make students concerned but hopeful about climate change, focussing on solutions and careers.
• Students should be able to synthesise their learning in different topics and subjects
• Climate change is a multi-disciplinary problem, impacting on all lives and careers. It requires a multidiscipline approach to solutions and learning.
• Teacher support and subject-specific professional development is critical to develop both subject knowledge and subject pedagogy amongst the teaching community.

We encourage our members and others to echo our position in their own response to the Curriculum Review, further information of which is available at gov.uk. 

Other climate education information you may be interested in:

What is climate literacy? (link takes you off-site to MetLink, our education resource platform) 

Climate Literacy Among School Leavers (opens PDF report of survey findings)