What is Climate Change?

The dictionary definition is:

A change in global or regional acclimate patterns , in particular a change apparent from mod to late 20th Century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produce they the use of fossil fuels.

There are many factors that can make the Earth warmer and colder including:

• greenhouse gases caused by human activity,

• deforestation, where more than half of the world’s surface has been ploughed and paved,

• ozone layer trapping heat closer to the Earth’s surface

• different types of air pollution which have different effects on the atmosphere.

The challenge of climate change is formidable. For children and young people to meet it with determination, and not with despair, we must offer them not just truth, but also hope. Learners need to know the truth about climate change – through knowledge-rich education. They must also be given the hope that they can be agents of change, through hands-on activity and, as they progress, through guidance and programmes allowing them to pursue a green career pathway in their chosen field (DFE 2023).

What can we do?

The DFE has called on all education sectors to create a sustainability climate action plan to show how we, as a school community, can support national and international initiatives which are aimed at protecting the world through direct climate action. As a school, we have important role to play in this, particularly reducing our environmental footprint to work towards net zero and giving all children, young people and adults the knowledge and skills to thrive in the green economy and to help restore nature.

Through our sustainability climate action plan, we will engage directly with children and young people who are passionate about the natural world, want to do their best to protect it and can influence their wider communities.

Through their learned and lived experiences from early years to Year 6, our children will develop a broad knowledge and understanding of the importance of nature, sustainability and the causes and impact of climate change and to translate this knowledge into positive action and solutions.

Using the four areas identified in the DFE’s Sustainability and climate change strategy Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children’s services systems - GOV.UK our sustainability and climate action plan will focus on:

1. Decarbonisation e.g. taking action to reduce carbon emissions and becoming more energy efficient.

2. Adaptation and Resilience e.g. taking action to reduce the risk of flooding and overheating.

3. Biodiversity e.g engaging with National Education Nature Park Home | Education Nature Park

4. Climate Education and Green Careers e.g. knowledge rich comprehensive teaching about climate change.

It will also include:

Creating an environment from an early age where we can connect to nature is essential for self-enforcement in protecting and valuing nature’. Ensuring our children will:

• spend time in nature and learn more about it

• become actively involved in the improvement of their local environment

• know that regular contact with green spaces can have a beneficial impact on their physical and mental health. 

Climate adaptation and decarbonisation activities can provide powerful learning opportunities.

Ensuring, our children will:

• participate in the implementation of climate adaptation measures

• learn in buildings designed for net zero

• find out more about the impact of energy and water use

• See sustainability brought to life in the buildings around them, allowing them to gain experiences which will enhance and contextualise their learning.

The Eco Council have launched their Eco Award this term. Each class gains Eco points for ensuring lights are switched off, Air Con is switched off, and screens are not left on when there is nobody is in the room. Each half term, the class with the most points wins the Eco Award and gets to keep the trophy in their classroom!

The Eco Council have also launched the WOW programme - to encourage active travel to school. If you travel to school in an active way at least once a week, you will be able to earn a badge every month! Active ways to travel include:

• Walk

• Scoot

• Ride a bike

• Park and Stride (park further away and walk the last 10 minutes to school)

• Get off the bus a few stops early and walk the last 10 minutes to school

Speak to your Eco Council to find out more!

Our Eco Council at the Civic Hall after taking part in the Leeds Schools Eco Conference this year. We got so many good ideas here for our Climate Action Plan and this is where we found out about the WOW Walk to School challenge.

Walk around our school and you will see the fabulous food waste bins we now have in place, to help us separate our waste even further and make sure nothing is wasted! Great work Eco Council!

This year, some of our Eco Council presented at the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee at Civic Hall, to share the work we have been doing at school and ask for support with the development of our site.

We have a busy and well-stocked Uniform Exchange at Burley. Good-qualilty second hand uniform is often donated to us here, so we make sure it's sorted and washed, and then offered out to families. This is helping us towards our Climate Action goals and also saves some pennies!

• Take what you need

• Donate what you don't