Fiona Cowan

Head Teacher, Bolsover Infants and Pre-School  Derbyshire, UK

The Advisory Board of eduCCate Global discuss the reasons behind why the school Headteacher nominates a Sustainability & Climate Literacy Leadership Team (6 Teachers/Staff Members) to begin the training for the Bronze Award. A whole school approach to delivering Climate Change Learning, Climate Literacy, Carbon Literacy, Transition Engineering and Transformative Leadership Learning…

Barbara Graham

Teacher, Flora Gardens Primary School
London, UK

I’m also the Geography Lead and one of the best things that came out of the whole [eduCCate Global Bronze Award] that we embarked on, is the SEE, THINK, WONDER Strategy [In the How To Teach Climate Change (All Staff)Inset Training]. So I started using that for climate change lessons. Since then we’ve actually rolled it out into other subjects as well. But the way the kids respond to the pictures that we’ve chosen and the depth, it seems so simple but it is so effective in the depth of the questions! Now we are actually looking at using that strategy in cultural capital, to look at art as well [next year].

We’ve used it in Science consistently across the school, all the way from nursery right up to year six. So I bought the book that that came from, and we’re looking at other strategies from that as well. We’ve actually already started adapting our curriculum to include the whole units [eduCCate Global Schemes of Work] on climate change ready too, for the next year.

So we are really excited about that. But the whole community has actually been involved in this, and I was really amazed to see how much everyone cared about it before we even started. It is so important, but people just do not know what they can do! At times [it’s been] difficult with lockdown and reopening to keep going with this but it’s so important that we’ve continued and the children have loved it, which is most important. And we’re excited to be a “lighthouse” [Exemplar} school and to help other schools to achieve this as well.

We are excited to do it. And I guess we kind of feel the same, that we want to be role models to help other people to start their journey as well, and also for our children, to make them responsible global citizens and future leaders.

Deeksha Chauhan

Teacher, GEMS Winchester School
Fujairah, UAE

For me, seeing my children and how well they have taken up [Climate Literacy] and during our classroom discussions also, now they have [Climate Literacy] in their mind. [Pupil said] “Miss, you know what? I told my father, “you had better switch off the lights!””. And I am working on all of this. So that kind of trigger during the classroom discussion was something very interesting for me and obviously from the parents, we have had a positive response too, [they said], “We are really glad that the school is working toward [Climate Literacy] and updating the curriculum”.

So that is something, apart from that of time at home that we are more conscious of now because we are teaching [Carbon Literacy] and we are learning about it. So I, myself, am more conscious about the carbon footprint.

Arushi Dhuri

GEMS Winchester School
Fujairah, UAE

I was very excited. I got to do a lot of things with the eduCCate Global Bronze Award. I was also doing most of the projects, like The Carbon Footprint Buster Challenge and the Sustainability Project. Then I was doing this in your course and I submitted the projects on the [school’s] social media platforms. I actually had friends calling me and asking me, “What is this all about?” They were so excited, even they wanted to know, “What is this Climate Change Teacher Training you are doing?” especially with eduCCate Global associated with it.

It got everyone’s attention. That was one thing. And it also took me back to my childhood days, when my mom used to say, “Switch off the lights if you are not using this room!” So it got me back into that mode again and I have started doing that with my own son as well.

Yes, it has been a really nice experience, and I’m looking forward to doing even more.

Megha Kapoor

Deputy Head of Secondary, GEMS Winchester School
Fujairah, UAE

I think the first thing that I learned was that climate change is not only about recycling or doing the beach clean ups or doing just putting up some shows or going to summits and talking about it. It is about bringing it down to the level of your school community, especially, you know, sharing information with the students and the parents and everybody in the community need to join hands and to make sure that we are having a common goal. And I think my Bronze Team would agree that they have put enough hard work to do different projects that they have done across the whole year, be it the Goals Project, be it the Sustainability Challenge, which we participated with the Westminister School in Dubai, it is the Recycling Campaign or The Carbon Footprint Challenge. I think we all have our own little journeys and little stories to share and how children have felt. So we have a very positive feedback from the children and the parents involved In the climate change as well.

Then looking forward, I really feel that as we move on to the Silver Award, that our staff will be more aware of what is climate change and how we, as individuals, can make a difference to the world and to the Mother Earth, where we are saying each one of us are responsible. Even things like calculating your carbon footprint and thinking of the ways how we can reduce it would make a lot of difference.

Rufqa Allie

Teacher, GEMS Winchester School
Fujairah, UAE

The most important thing that I took from this [The Bronze Award – Climate Literacy] and that my kids took from this [The Bronze Award] was that they became more aware [of Climate Mitigation], like everybody else was saying. They became more aware of the things that they were doing, how it was impacting the Earth and how it was impacting their future.

For me, the most important thing was that we didn’t even realize this [our personal impact]! This concept is now being taught already within other subjects. It is cross-curricular. It is [possible], but we just became more aware [of how to do it] through this [eduCCate Global Bronze Award – Mitigation – Climate Literacy]. And it is funny because I was busy teaching an English lesson and one of my kids piped up [with a question]. We were speaking [about something else] and it suddenly became a lesson on carbon footprints out of nowhere! [Smiling].

So I feel that by making our kids [more] aware of this [Mitigation & Climate Literacy], they will become better people. They want to know more. They will become our [future] Transition Engineers and when you just said this, a lightbulb went on in my head and I [saw myself] speaking to my learners about future [Transition Engineering & Transformative Leadership] careers. And, this is one thing that we can introduce to our learners, [how they can qualify as] Transition Engineers. I’m sure they’ve never heard of the subject [Transition Engineering]. I’m sure, because this was the first time for me! Hearing that [Transition Engineers] are in demand. So it is [these] things that we need our kids to speak [and know more] about. And I just want to mention one other thing, my own son is in college class. So I heard what Miss Carla does all the time and now I’m also switching off my lights at home. I need to watch what I do too! [Learning to teach this] has even [moved over] into our family life as well.

Sally Brooks

Headteacher, Fulham Cross
Academy Trust, UK

Introduces the staff of Fulham Girls School and Fulham Academy to the eduCCate Global Awards and her vision for both to be “Exemplar Schools” for the Hammersmith & Fullham Borough, Greater London Schools and Schools throughout the United Kingdom.