There are many activities that schools can be involved in to help their students learn about the environment and how to protect it.
Transport accounts for roughly 16% of Islington’s total emissions. Making a school travel plan using the TfL Travel for Life accreditation programme is a great way to inspire your school community to travel more sustainably.
TfL Travel for Life gives your school access to free resources, lesson plans, events, and expert guidance from Islington’s dedicated school travel planning officer. Find out more on our Islington School Travel Plans webpage or email SchoolTravelPlans@islington.gov.uk.
Tackling big issues like climate change can be intimidating but there are tools available to help you.
The Eco-Schools Programme’s Seven Step Framework empowers young people to introduce and lead environmental actions and education in their school. Students can pick several topics to work on depending on what is important to them and their community. Some schools have kept their own bees, some have planted herb gardens for their community to use, and some have organised crisp packet recycling in their school.
When a school has worked through all seven steps, they can apply for an Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation. The Green Flag is international and recognised by organisations such as Unesco.
The United Nations Environment Programme and Ted-Ed created Earth School to keep children connected to nature during the Covid-19 pandemic. Earth School has 30 quests, each focused on a different nature-related topic. Some of the quests are about the foods we eat; others are about climate change. All are short videos to keep children interacting with nature even if they cannot get out.
Students receive a certificate at the end of each quest they undertake.
Green Schools Project helps students learn about climate change, empowers them to take action to tackle it, and helps them to build the knowledge, skills, and values they will need for a sustainable future. It also helps schools to take their first steps to become zero-carbon.
They have recently launched a new fully funded Zero Carbon Schools Programme which helps students to calculate their school's carbon footprint and lead meaningful projects to reduce their carbon emissions, becoming an environmental hub for their local community.
For more information email info@greenschoolsproject.org.uk
The North London Waste Authority has teaching resources, lesson plans and activities on several topics. From the journey of waste to how to take action for the environment, there are several topics to choose from.
Islington Council encourage schools to make good use of our parks and green spaces for environmental education sessions and visits. They currently have a wide range of exciting sessions taking place, ranging from 'forest schools' to pond-dipping, and learning about the wonderful world of bees.
The Garden Classroom delivers a wide range of environmental education sessions in the borough, including those at Islington Ecology Centre.
If you have a query about arranging a school visit to a park or green space, contact greenspace@islington.gov.uk