Green Schools Revolution

Speaker A 00:00:00

Schools get a grant of £3,000 to go away and rewild their school grounds.

Speaker A 00:00:06

That could be things like putting bug hotels in, growing vegetables in a vegetable patch.

Speaker B 00:00:13

Learning that young people know a lot about climate justice, they're not learning about it in schools, but when we speak to them, they're actively saying they understand the concepts of like decolonizing, they understand racism and systemic racism.

Speaker B 00:00:27

Young people are telling us that they feel anxious about climate change and really a lot of young people we speak to don't realize that they can have an impact in their education.

Speaker B 00:00:37

But how could schools make you feel less anxious about climate change?

Speaker B 00:00:41

A lot of young people just tell us they want to see their school doing something.

Speaker A 00:00:47

I think kind of the way the schooling system is set up right now is that it kind of feels quite segregated, you could say, with like the teachers and staff and the adults and the grown ups.

Speaker A 00:00:58

And then you've got your students and it feels very, very separate.

Speaker A 00:01:02

And all of the big decisions are being made by, like you said, the governors, senior leadership and the students are being left out.

Speaker C 00:01:10

Hello, my name is Mark Taylor and welcome to the Education on Far podcast.

Speaker C 00:01:18

The place for creative and inspiring learning from around the world.

Speaker C 00:01:23

Listen to teachers, parents and mentors share how they are supporting children to live their best, authentic life and are proving to be a guiding light to us all.

Speaker C 00:01:32

Hi Jack and Lucy, thank you so much for joining us here on the Education on Far podcast.

Speaker C 00:01:37

One of the things that I get really excited about when organizations and projects and things are very student led, where there's not just the question of sitting back and waiting for life to happen.

Speaker C 00:01:47

And I think especially from an education point of view, let alone a climate point of view, actually people taking the initiative and actually feeling like we're all in this journey together is an exciting project.

Speaker C 00:01:56

So I'm really excited that you're here and also really looking forward to diving into it.

Speaker C 00:02:00

So thanks so much.

Speaker B 00:02:02

Thanks for having us.

Speaker C 00:02:04

So Jack, why don't you kick us off and sort of set the scene in terms of what SOS UK and what the Green Schools revolution is.

Speaker C 00:02:13

And I would talk about teach the teacher as well.

Speaker C 00:02:15

So why don't you start us off first of all about where we're going to head off for Jack?

Speaker B 00:02:19

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:02:19

So myself and Lucy, we work for the environmental education charity Students Organizing for Sustainability UK or SOS uk.

Speaker B 00:02:27

So we used to be the sustainability department in the National Union of Students back in, I think 2021.

Speaker B 00:02:34

We then became our own charity.

Speaker B 00:02:35

So we were already working in Higher education, trying to promote sustainability in the curriculum and sustainable practices.

Speaker B 00:02:44

But then by becoming our own charity, we now work across all levels of education from early years through to adult learning, really trying to make sure that sustainability is actively being incorporated into the behaviors of an organization, getting it into the curriculum and really, most importantly, making sure that students and young people are getting the chance to actively lead on sustainability and sustainable action so that they're being empowered and really being able to take the driving seat seat in doing the work and gaining the skills.

Speaker B 00:03:15

So SOS UK as a charity, we have lots and lots of programs ranging from Biodiversity, Work with hedgehogs, Teach the Future, which is another one of our campaigns where we're trying to get climate education through government, but we also have this body of work.

Speaker B 00:03:31

So Green Schools Revolution, like you spoke about, Green Schools Revolution or GSR as well, probably shorten it too, because I don't want to say every time GSR is really a body of work aiming to help primary and secondary schools, kind of complementing the Department for Education's Climate Change and Sustainability strategy.

Speaker B 00:03:50

Lucy, actually you'll be a better person to talk more about gsr.

Speaker B 00:03:53

So do you want to give an overview of what GSR is as a project in sos?

Speaker A 00:03:57

Yeah, so I'll give a little bit of a background into how kind of GSR came about.

Speaker A 00:04:02

So GSR is actually a three year project which was launched in January of 2023.

Speaker A 00:04:07

So actually kind of when the final year of GSR, it's kind of beginning to become to a place now, beginning to round stuff up, but still very, very busy, lots of work going on and it's been kindly hosted by SOS UK and funded by the I Will Fund and also the OVO Foundation.

Speaker A 00:04:28

The OVO foundation specifically funds Teach the Teacher, which is the group that Jack and I work on.

Speaker A 00:04:35

So the main aim, like Jack said, for the project is to support school students to help green their school in line with the Department for Education or the DFES Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy.

Speaker A 00:04:50

So in GSR there are some kind of subgroups, so there's caps, which is Climate Action Plans.

Speaker A 00:04:55

So actually used to work on climate Action Plans.

Speaker A 00:04:58

It's a group which kind of helps encourage schools to make their own climate action plans and it being student led again in line with the DF's strategy.

Speaker A 00:05:11

And we've also got Teach the Teacher, which is, like I said, the group that Jack and I work on and with Teach the Teacher, we go into schools and run onboardings to help students then go away and teach their teachers.

Speaker A 00:05:27

So they run their own sessions with their teachers in schools.

Speaker A 00:05:32

Yeah, teaching their teachers about the climate.

Speaker A 00:05:35

Also about topics like climate justice, climate anxiety and things which wouldn't necessarily be covered in the curriculum right now.

Speaker A 00:05:45

And also the importance of climate education.

Speaker A 00:05:48

And it's really, really good project which involves kind of a lot of discussions and hands on work and.

Speaker A 00:05:57

Yeah, and then we've also got wilding schools.

Speaker A 00:06:00

So this project focuses on rewilding school grounds.

Speaker A 00:06:04

So schools get a grant of £3,000 to go away and rewild their school grounds.

Speaker A 00:06:12

That could be things like bug hotels in growing vegetables in a vegetable patch.

Speaker A 00:06:19

And again, it's all quite student led.

Speaker A 00:06:22

We encourage everything we do to be student led.

Speaker A 00:06:26

It's so important.

Speaker A 00:06:27

I don't know if there's anything else you want to add jack to that or if I've covered everything.

Speaker B 00:06:31

Yeah, no, that basically that summarises it.

Speaker B 00:06:33

We're really trying to help schools with their operational sustainability and also to get sustainability into the curriculum.

Speaker B 00:06:40

All of it involving students at like the heart of the work, making sure that they're driving their work themselves because they're like key stakeholders in their education.

Speaker B 00:06:48

So it's important they're really at the forefront of it.

Speaker C 00:06:51

And I think one of the really key things, like you say there is being stakeholders and actually feeling like you're on this journey together, whether it's kind of information and knowledge sharing or like you said, about anxiety and how younger people are feeling about climate change and that sort of been able to do it in a way which isn't, I don't know, not a big deal, but it is a big deal, you know, sort of having that sort of continual conversation about it rather than this is Climate Week and, you know, that kind of thing, you know, having these ongoing kind of conversations.

Speaker C 00:07:21

So I really love that.

Speaker C 00:07:22

And I also love the fact that like say each of our environments, whether it's any given school or house or wherever it happens to be, we all make a difference.

Speaker C 00:07:30

So as soon as you feel like you're not being told what to do, but you're actually shaping what that is.

Speaker C 00:07:35

And I think doing it hand in hand with a teacher and, and a school body, I think makes a big difference.

Speaker C 00:07:40

So where did, where did the idea for it stem from in terms of being able to marry those two things, which I think is difficult, which is like say the DFE saying we'd like this to be the case, but actually then getting a group of people and a project together where you can actually make It a reality.

Speaker C 00:07:59

And also feel like everyone taking all of that kind of formality away, it's still actually doing a really good, positive thing for all people concerned.

Speaker C 00:08:06

Why don't you take us into that, Jack?

Speaker B 00:08:09

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:08:09

So the whole project of GSR really started through Teach the Teacher.

Speaker B 00:08:14

And Teach the Teacher started because we, in one of our other campaigns, work with a young person named Jody.

Speaker B 00:08:21

Jody was actively helping us to lobby the government for mandatory climate education.

Speaker B 00:08:26

And one day came to one of our meetings and was just saying that they're studying for their A levels, they're studying science subjects, but they're not actually learning about climate change in school.

Speaker B 00:08:35

So if they're not learning about climate change in their STEM subjects at A level, then there's no way that anyone else in their school is learning about climate change in history or in English.

Speaker B 00:08:45

And they just really wanted a way to be able to teach their teacher.

Speaker B 00:08:49

They said, I would love to be able to talk to my teachers about the importance of climate education.

Speaker B 00:08:54

So we actively worked with a group of young people to say, what is it that you would like to talk to your teachers about?

Speaker B 00:09:00

What is it that you wish teachers knew about being a young person growing up in the climate crisis?

Speaker B 00:09:06

What is it that you wish teachers were telling you about climate change?

Speaker B 00:09:10

And we work together to make this workshop that then Jody and Jody's friends and the other young people who are working with us went out and delivered in their own schools.

Speaker B 00:09:20

And off the back of that we realized, actually this can be really powerful, working directly with young people.

Speaker B 00:09:26

Young people have a lot of energy.

Speaker B 00:09:28

They're really inspired to actually take action.

Speaker B 00:09:31

So kind of, how do we continue to harness the momentum that we have from this kind of one off stunt that we did?

Speaker B 00:09:36

How do we then harness that into doing more work?

Speaker B 00:09:39

So we then applied that applied for funding for Teach the Teacher, while at the same time the DfE's strategy came out.

Speaker B 00:09:47

We then realized, well, we can actually replicate this model for climate action plans and for rewilding campuses, which schools are also expected to do.

Speaker B 00:09:56

And yeah, it was really just birth from there and then hiring a team of young people like Lucy.

Speaker B 00:10:02

We have a lot of young people aged 16 to about 22, 23 working with us, actually delivering these projects on the ground and working with other young people in schools.

Speaker B 00:10:13

So that's kind of how the whole project came about.

Speaker B 00:10:15

And how we operate is very much young people delivering for our side.

Speaker B 00:10:19

Two young people who are then delivering to their teachers.

Speaker C 00:10:23

Yeah, I love that.

Speaker C 00:10:24

And so, Lucy, take us into what this looks like for you being classed as a young person is that the people that you're sort of helping coordinate in terms of this, is it young people still at school, people who are at university, a combination of all of those things.

Speaker C 00:10:39

And how does that sort of fit in with the sort of the rest of your sort of life, so to speak?

Speaker A 00:10:45

Yeah, so you're 100% right with the fact that it kind of spans across education.

Speaker A 00:10:53

So we work with students from kind of from a primary level all the way up to university students and especially recently teach.

Speaker A 00:11:03

The teacher is kind of moving towards a direction of actually working with PGCE students.

Speaker A 00:11:08

So trainee teachers.

Speaker A 00:11:11

So Jack and I have been to places like Liverpool Hope University, we've been to Southampton University and already started working with these PGCE students in regards to teach to teacher.

Speaker A 00:11:24

So from the get go, when they go into their teaching careers, they've got the tools needed to teach about the environment.

Speaker A 00:11:33

I'm really, really grateful for SOIC and also GSR for creating these jobs because it's so easy to be asking for people with a degree and five years of experience under their belt.

Speaker A 00:11:48

And it's.

Speaker A 00:11:49

I think in my opinion, it's growing increasingly hard to get a job without a degree.

Speaker A 00:11:54

And as a young person who's currently not at university and can actually struggle in education sometimes, I had quite a difficult school in period, so I was a bit hesitant about going to university, but have a huge, huge interest in sustainability and the environment and have done for years and years.

Speaker A 00:12:13

So I'm really, really grateful that like SOS have opened these positions to young people like myself.

Speaker A 00:12:19

And I also have got some friends that I also work with through GSR and I know for a fact they feel the exact same.

Speaker A 00:12:27

And also on a more kind of wider overview, I feel like it's really valuable for the students to have someone young and someone who they can possibly relate to more coming in and kind of speaking to them.

Speaker A 00:12:44

But it's not in like a patronizing way or anything.

Speaker A 00:12:46

Like we just sit there and we have a conversation.

Speaker A 00:12:49

And especially with like the older students and university students, it is more like we're just having a conversation.

Speaker A 00:12:58

And it's not like it's.

Speaker A 00:13:00

I think the dynamic, it's not like a teacher student dynamic.

Speaker A 00:13:05

And I personally think that works, works really well with, with the work that you do.

Speaker C 00:13:10

Yeah, I really like that as a, is an idea and I think, I think it's education.

Speaker C 00:13:15

We talk on the podcast quite a lot about a silver bullet to change everything.

Speaker C 00:13:18

And then on One side, you know, the government controls how that looks and how those things are.

Speaker C 00:13:24

And like you say, if you don't fit into that in a perfect way, it makes it really hard for lots of people.

Speaker C 00:13:29

But at the same time, education has to be changing with AI and different ways of operating.

Speaker C 00:13:34

We know that there are different access points now in different ways of doing it.

Speaker C 00:13:38

And I think to have this conversation, like you say, and to say that this is a real life example of how people's lives don't just look a certain way or how their progression doesn't look a certain way.

Speaker C 00:13:47

And also it's based around your interests in what you want to be able to do and to support people.

Speaker C 00:13:52

And I think all of those are.

Speaker C 00:13:54

So they're positive in their own, their own regard.

Speaker C 00:13:57

But also once you put them all together, as you said so, so, so beautifully, Lucy, it kind of gives you that to then take that forward and actually make a difference in a, in an informal but impactful kind of way.

Speaker C 00:14:08

And I think that's a brilliant way, brilliant way to put it.

Speaker C 00:14:11

So, Jack, take us in a little bit to the.

Speaker C 00:14:15

Some of the projects themselves.

Speaker C 00:14:16

So if we talk about Teach the Teacher, you're going into schools and you tell us a little bit about how that sort of works practically in terms of delivering that information.

Speaker C 00:14:24

I'm also interested in terms of who those people are in the school that are then helping it sort of teach the team, you know, every person in a class every year, group certain people that get that opportunity.

Speaker C 00:14:34

So talk us to that a little bit.

Speaker B 00:14:36

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:14:37

So for Teach the Teacher, obviously the end goal of taking part in Teach the Teacher as a school is to support a group of students to deliver a workshop with their teachers talking all about climate change and climate education.

Speaker B 00:14:49

For us, what we do is once a school has let us know that they're interested in taking part, we work with them to go in, in person or deliver online an initial introductory workshop for a group of young people.

Speaker B 00:15:02

Typically, the young people will be maybe a school council, maybe an eco committee, maybe just a group of young people who are really passionate about climate and sustainability.

Speaker B 00:15:11

And what we do is we talk to them all about climate change, getting them to start thinking about maybe wider concepts than they've thought about.

Speaker B 00:15:19

So getting to think about climate justice and who is responsible for climate change, who is going to be the most vulnerable.

Speaker B 00:15:27

Getting to think about climate anxiety.

Speaker B 00:15:29

Do they feel anxious about climate change?

Speaker B 00:15:32

If they don't feel anxious about climate change, what's helping them to feel supported?

Speaker B 00:15:37

And if they do feel anxious about climate change?

Speaker B 00:15:40

What's making them feel anxious?

Speaker B 00:15:41

And how could their school environment actually try to alleviate those feelings of anxiety?

Speaker B 00:15:47

And then we talk to them about climate education and getting them to really start thinking about what would an ideal curriculum look like to you?

Speaker B 00:15:56

How would you like to learn about climate change in school?

Speaker B 00:16:00

So thinking about, is there any best practice from your teachers or is there anything that you think your teachers have missed?

Speaker B 00:16:08

And then again, talking to them about how to communicate on climate change, really trying to upskill them in talking to other people, public speaking, presenting, how do you communicate a complicated topic like climate change in a very accessible, understandable way.

Speaker B 00:16:24

So we have this really normally a really energizing and interesting discussion with young people.

Speaker B 00:16:31

A lot of the time learning that young people know a lot about climate justice.

Speaker B 00:16:35

They're not learning about it in schools, but when we speak to them, they're actively saying they understand the concepts of decolonizing, they understand racism and systemic racism.

Speaker B 00:16:46

Young people are telling us that they feel anxious about climate change.

Speaker B 00:16:49

And really a lot of young people we speak to don't realize that they can have an impact in their education.

Speaker B 00:16:56

And we really want to empower them through this initial meeting with them to think about what do you want from your education?

Speaker B 00:17:03

And once we've worked with young people, start to build their confidence, we send their.

Speaker B 00:17:08

They're normally supported by one teacher, normally a leader of an eco club, a science teacher.

Speaker B 00:17:15

We'll then send them resources for, for those students to work off.

Speaker B 00:17:18

So we'll send them a presentation and a ready made script for an hour long workshop for them to deliver to their teachers.

Speaker B 00:17:26

That covers a lot of the stuff that we got them thinking about originally.

Speaker B 00:17:29

It covers the basics of climate change, climate justice, climate anxiety and climate education.

Speaker B 00:17:35

The workshop itself is ready for young people to deliver, but we encourage them to make changes, to make it relevant to them and to their school and to really think about what would climate education look like in their school and to give their teachers practical advice and practical feedback to say, I was in this lesson two weeks ago, this is where you could have mentioned climate change to us.

Speaker B 00:17:58

So we give them all the resources they need and then we're on hand if they have any questions for us, if they need any support, if they want to actively learn more about climate justice or learn more about climate education.

Speaker B 00:18:11

And then it's really over to them to work with that teacher to find a day and a time and a space to deliver their workshop.

Speaker B 00:18:19

So a lot of the time this will happen on inset day or maybe over a lunchtime to however many teachers they're able to do this presentation to.

Speaker B 00:18:29

And once they've delivered this workshop, we then send their teachers resources so that they can see how climate can be integrated to their lessons.

Speaker B 00:18:38

So resources that other teachers have told us they're actively using.

Speaker B 00:18:42

And for the students involved, we try to give them more opportunities to get involved in climate action.

Speaker B 00:18:48

So recently we actually worked with a school to send them to a conference that was happening up in Liverpool to again deliver this workshop to teachers that they didn't know, letting them to really build their confidence in speaking about climate change, really feel like they're making an impact.

Speaker B 00:19:04

So it's normally us working with a small group of students, one of their teachers and then a lot of it is handed over to them to really take and do what they want with.

Speaker B 00:19:14

Some schools have made games out of it and activities and delivered that teach the teacher workshops as 15 minute assemblies.

Speaker B 00:19:23

Really like making it dynamic.

Speaker B 00:19:25

Other people have really taken the concept and adapted it to the students involved.

Speaker B 00:19:30

So talking about climate justice, students talking about their own experience, experience of maybe moving because of climate change.

Speaker B 00:19:37

And if some schools have used it as a way to start their own eco committee or to start their own curriculum review, which is actually amazing to have a youth led curriculum review in a school.

Speaker B 00:19:47

So yeah, that I feel like sometimes I talk about it and I go a bit off track, but that's kind of a summary of how teach the teacher works.

Speaker B 00:19:54

It's really great to work directly with young people and basically say to young people, this is yours, do what you want with it.

Speaker B 00:20:01

This is like over to you.

Speaker B 00:20:02

We're just here to give you the basics to get you started.

Speaker B 00:20:05

But what you talk about is completely your choice.

Speaker C 00:20:09

And what I really like about that is the fact I think the blank piece of paper, so to speak, is the hardest thing, isn't it?

Speaker C 00:20:15

So you could have had all the conversations in the world, but if you then say, right, deliver this hour workshop or this presentation, take the information you've done and away you go, there's, there's a little bit more of a barrier there.

Speaker C 00:20:29

Whereas like say if you've got the resources but now you can tweak it and you can organize it in a different way, then actually all you're doing is you're having the positivity and your impact to kind of make it yours, but you've still got all the important stuff that you're able just to, to meld into, into your way of, of Presenting really.

Speaker C 00:20:48

And I think that's fantastic.

Speaker C 00:20:49

And, and like say that's the ripple effect, isn't it?

Speaker C 00:20:52

Like say a few students, a teacher which then becomes part of a school conversation in parts of a, maybe a group of schools and so forth.

Speaker C 00:21:00

And how that just sort of progresses from there is amazing.

Speaker C 00:21:04

Lucy, I don't know if you've had this sort of experience directly, but I'm curious as to once you sort of get out of the education side of it, you know, you can talk about climate change, are they able to sort of think about well, what's our environment like?

Speaker C 00:21:18

Specifically in our school you sort of talked about sort of how the school environment is from a grounds point of view, but in terms of, you know, how much energy we're using, how we organizing our recycling and that sort of thing.

Speaker C 00:21:32

I suppose some of these things may be more obvious than others but I'm curious how does that sort of come up in a real sort of practical.

Speaker C 00:21:37

This is how our school and how our life is kind of working.

Speaker A 00:21:41

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:21:41

So this is actually a really amazing thing that I think links a bit more to the climate action fans side of things and also maybe the wilding school side of things.

Speaker A 00:21:51

So when I was doing my work on caps, you actually like sos, gsr, provide an energy auditor to come into your school.

Speaker A 00:22:03

It's part of the CAPS process which is I think, I don't know the exact time frame but it involves an onboarding session, an assembly, four workshops, then like a cap formation session.

Speaker A 00:22:17

So it's a bit of a longer program than say like teach the teacher which allows for things like an energy audit to be taking place and in that the energy comes into the school and assesses like the energy consumption and kind of how sustainable the school is.

Speaker A 00:22:33

In a more practical side also things like recycling.

Speaker A 00:22:41

Many of the schools I went to when I was working with caps, recycling was actually a really big one and obviously we talk a lot about reducing using recycling and I remember talking about that when I was in first school.

Speaker A 00:22:55

Like it has been kind of a practice for years.

Speaker A 00:22:59

However still so many of the schools I went into, they don't have recycling bins and I think school wide practices, they can really kind of set students up for moving forwards and also behaviors that they might take home with them.

Speaker A 00:23:12

If they're recycling in school, they're so much more likely to go home and then recycle at home because they're getting educated on what can be recycled, what can't be recycled, all things like that.

Speaker A 00:23:21

And it becomes Habit.

Speaker A 00:23:24

However, if the students aren't able to have access to recycling bins at school and stuff like that, how are they possibly then going to go home and know how to recycle?

Speaker A 00:23:36

So a lot of, a lot of things like that come up within the groups, like caps and wilding.

Speaker A 00:23:43

Also with wilding, obviously now I mentioned about like school grounds.

Speaker A 00:23:49

They get, they have like a mapping program, like software, so they map their school grounds, they analyze what wildlife, what, like local wildlife they get in, if they get foxes, if they get a lot of badges, if they get hedgehogs.

Speaker A 00:24:04

And so they study all of this.

Speaker A 00:24:06

And then when it comes to actually rewilding their schools, they then the students can go away, research about these different, these different animals and what can be done to protect them.

Speaker A 00:24:18

So things like bees have got bee hotels, planting wild, lots of wildflowers.

Speaker A 00:24:24

And yeah, it's a really important thing for the students to actually be actively involved in this and learning about it because it can then set them up with so many skills going forward into, into the big scary real world they have for them after, after education.

Speaker B 00:24:43

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:24:43

Just to say also through teach the teacher, we obviously really encourage the young people to talk about what they want from education.

Speaker B 00:24:49

But a lot of the times talking to young people about how could schools make you feel less anxious about climate change?

Speaker B 00:24:56

A lot of young people just tell us they want to see their school doing something.

Speaker B 00:25:00

So if they're not seeing recycling bins, they, they don't think that, that school cares.

Speaker B 00:25:04

And we've been in schools where young people have said, oh, it would be great if we actually like, cared about our energy use.

Speaker B 00:25:11

And the teacher said, oh, well, we've actually changed to a green energy supplier.

Speaker B 00:25:16

So we do actually prioritize that.

Speaker B 00:25:18

But because the students don't know that they, there's a kind of a disconnect connect and it makes it more difficult if you're not seeing your values reflected in your place of education.

Speaker B 00:25:28

So really like, it is so important for schools to be showing best practice and doing these operational things.

Speaker B 00:25:35

Having clearly recycled, like clearly marked recycling bins, encouraging people to turn the lights off because although they may seem small, they have a big impact on what young people think about their school and the pride that they take in their school, which then also encourages them to take those actions as well and spend ourselves.

Speaker C 00:25:52

And I think also, I mean, is a personal story.

Speaker C 00:25:57

You know, our house, you know, we've recently had a water meter fitted.

Speaker C 00:26:00

Our energy, we've, we've been on a meter for that for a little while.

Speaker C 00:26:04

And to actively be able to see what those small differences do in terms of, you know, this is how much we've used today.

Speaker C 00:26:11

And actually we use nothing at that point when we thought we were using it and all that, all those sorts of things is really sort of powerful because.

Speaker C 00:26:17

Because you feel like actually, oh, it's all just taken care of, but actually you've got an active role to do that.

Speaker C 00:26:22

And I'm glad you mentioned about the bins and things, because that's a really important thing, isn't it?

Speaker C 00:26:27

Because if you haven't got a bin and you're having this conversation as part of the project, then the school has the opportunity to go, yeah, actually, we're being asked about this, so why would we not do that?

Speaker C 00:26:37

And if they wouldn't do it, then they've got to justify why that might be the case.

Speaker C 00:26:41

And it probably just is that they haven't got around to it or it's not.

Speaker C 00:26:44

Hasn't been on their agenda at this particular thing or this budget round or whatever it happens to be.

Speaker C 00:26:49

And also, I love the energy point of view from that because normally that, like, say that's a senior leadership thing, it's a governor's thing, it happens above you.

Speaker C 00:26:57

You're just going to school and you're going to your lessons, and as soon as it starts to feel like we're all part of the same world and we're trying to do it and we're doing it collectively, we're not just here for you to learn, we're here for us to learn.

Speaker C 00:27:07

We're here for us to grow together.

Speaker C 00:27:08

We're all making a difference.

Speaker C 00:27:11

Yes, of course that's going to make a difference in terms of climate change from what we're talking about today as a specific topic, but it makes a difference about what your feeling is about school generally and what learning is and how that comes across from you and that changes how you feel about yourself and how you fit into your local environment and society at large.

Speaker C 00:27:31

And like you say, they may sound like small things, but I think from a personal point of view, that probably makes a bigger difference than you think.

Speaker C 00:27:39

And maybe, Lucy, you can chat about, about that.

Speaker C 00:27:41

You know, you sort of mentioned that school wasn't your, maybe your first love, so to speak, as you were going through, you know, if you were having some of those conversations, if you, if that was sort of part of what was happening when, when you were younger, would you think that would have helped or supported or certainly give you a different perspective about what Learning in school was from your experience.

Speaker A 00:28:01

Yeah, I think kind of the way the schooling system is set up right now is that it kind of feels quite segregated you could say with like the teachers and the kind of the staff and the, the adults and the grown ups and then you've got your students and it feels very, very separate.

Speaker A 00:28:19

And all of the big decisions are being made by like you said, the governors, senior leadership and the students are being left out.

Speaker A 00:28:25

And especially going up into like a senior school level students, Students have a voice and students have opinions and they spend like we spend so much time in education now.

Speaker A 00:28:39

We spend five days a week normally most, most weeks of the year, obviously taking out some holiday time.

Speaker A 00:28:49

So we, we rack up a lot of hours in school and we care about kind of the environment, the school environment, the buildings that we're in.

Speaker A 00:28:57

Like we, we, we grow to, to love it.

Speaker A 00:29:02

You could say some people might disagree and we still feel like we have a duty of maybe care towards the school and obviously saying like I like what Jack said about not being in the loop about like changing to a green energy provider or not really knowing kind of how the school is like going forward, like what the big decisions being made, like what they are.

Speaker A 00:29:29

And I feel like that can be quite frustrating for a student and it in a way can make you feel like you're voiceless because senior leadership and that governance and higher up bodies in the school are not necessarily giving students the space to speak up or also be involved in these conversations which can then provide like kind of provoke a feeling of helplessness and can, can kind of spark a poor mental health, maybe a generalized poor feeling of mental health with all the students.

Speaker C 00:30:07

So I don't know, certainly not supportive anyway, if you go back.

Speaker A 00:30:13

Yeah, no.

Speaker A 00:30:14

And it's obviously at the moment we're seeing such a spike in poor mental health in regards to young people.

Speaker A 00:30:23

And I kind of, I feel like I understand because they're kind of constantly going into school, doing their lessons, coming home and that's it.

Speaker A 00:30:34

And it's not, it sometimes isn't the best environment where students feel fully included within the school.

Speaker C 00:30:42

So hopefully then what we've been talking about today sounds like a very positive step forward from that point of view in terms of the conversations that you're having, the opportunities they have, like say once they're sort of doing their presenting and the projects are up and running.

Speaker C 00:30:57

So I, I feel very positive from an educational point of view on that as well as what is a climate standpoint as well.

Speaker C 00:31:06

So Jack Maybe you could talk us into the funding side of it.

Speaker C 00:31:10

There was, it was a three year project.

Speaker C 00:31:12

Is it going to be renewed, do you know?

Speaker C 00:31:14

I mean, obviously you might not know some of the answers to these things but you know, is it a kind of this was a brilliant idea and now that we need another brilliant idea or the fact that it's been so successful and made such an impact that it might then be able to just sort of carry on?

Speaker B 00:31:26

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:31:27

So we'll take the three strands of Green Schools revolution.

Speaker B 00:31:31

So we have Wilding and Caps and Teach the Teacher.

Speaker B 00:31:34

So for Wilding and climate action plan plans, both of these strands are coming to an end at the end of this year.

Speaker B 00:31:41

So right now we're currently working with Lucy, you might know the numbers, maybe 36 schools between wilding and climate action plans.

Speaker A 00:31:50

I think it's around that.

Speaker B 00:31:51

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker B 00:31:52

So we're currently working with them to finalize the rewilding and to finalize their climate action plans.

Speaker B 00:31:57

Off the back of these, we're going to be releasing our own templates for climate action plans for schools, helping them to create their climate action plan in a youth led way.

Speaker B 00:32:07

So obviously all schools need a climate action plan.

Speaker B 00:32:10

I believe it's from September this year, but there's still no real solid advice from the government of what that would look like.

Speaker B 00:32:17

So we want to show through our tried and tested ways how you can make a climate action plan and involve students, which like we said, is incredibly, incredibly useful for Teach the Teacher.

Speaker B 00:32:27

Then we're continuing to run right through to the end of the year as well, continuing to support students to deliver these workshops with their schools from December onwards.

Speaker B 00:32:36

Then Teach the Teacher actually does have another round of funding from the OVO foundation who fund us now moving a bit more towards, like Lucy was saying, initial teacher education.

Speaker B 00:32:47

So what we'll be doing from the start of 2026 is working with universities and other IT providers to bring young people in to deliver a very similar workshop that they do now to Teach the teacher.

Speaker B 00:33:03

Really trying to flip the dynamic straight away as someone says they want to be a teacher, going to see the youth perspective and really supporting teachers from day one to understand how they can integrate climate into their lessons.

Speaker B 00:33:16

But we don't want to just drop schools.

Speaker B 00:33:18

So we also are creating a bunch of resources for schools to help.

Speaker B 00:33:22

If a school does want to replicate the model that we're doing now and deliver these workshops, we'll have resources for them to actually take part on their own.

Speaker B 00:33:32

We just won't be as involved as we have been as we're focusing more on initial teacher education, but hopefully the knock on effects from working in ITE will also then become known in the school itself.

Speaker B 00:33:44

And as these trainee teachers get into their schools, whether that's the placement schools or their final schools that they work in, they can then use our resources and deliver one of these workshops themselves.

Speaker C 00:33:56

Fantastic.

Speaker C 00:33:56

And where should people be looking in terms of finding this information in like say either sort of now while it's still, it's still sort of full steam ahead and then how it starts to change as you go into 2026.

Speaker B 00:34:11

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:34:11

So if you look@greenschoolsrevolution.org I believe is our website or.uk Lucy by now green Schools Revolution.

Speaker B 00:34:20

Either way, I think we're the only thing with that name.

Speaker B 00:34:23

If you look up Green Schools Revolution on our website or on the UK.

Speaker A 00:34:28

Greenschoolsrevolution.Uk that's our website.

Speaker B 00:34:32

If you look on there, you can find out more information about each of the campaigns.

Speaker B 00:34:36

Similarly, if you go onto the SOS UK website, you can also find out more information and you can sign up to take part in Teach the Teacher on either of those websites.

Speaker B 00:34:46

And also on our social media, which is just SOS UK social media.

Speaker B 00:34:50

There's no Greek Schools Revolution.

Speaker B 00:34:52

We post updates for everyone to see what's going on in their projects and that's what we'll be sharing once we've got the finalized climate action plan templates ready to go and when we're looking for more schools to take part in delivering these IT Teach the Teacher sessions.

Speaker B 00:35:07

So anytime a school is interested in look at our website, even if it's not for Teach the Teacher or Climate action plans, we have so many other projects that we're always looking to work with schools and young people on.

Speaker C 00:35:19

And I think for me the other exciting thing is that actually what makes a big difference is that someone going into starting their journey as a teacher, they're thinking about this as a what is it that I can bring in?

Speaker C 00:35:32

How can I deliver it?

Speaker C 00:35:33

How can we make a difference?

Speaker C 00:35:34

How can we have these conversations?

Speaker C 00:35:37

And I think even if that's just somewhere in the mix of what you believe being a teacher is, as well as the sort of the formal setting which you're going to have to go through, like say if it's a PGCE or whatever, then I think already that just enhances what it's the reality is going to be like for the school that you're going to eventually be in.

Speaker C 00:35:54

And also the pupils that you're going to be talking about.

Speaker C 00:35:57

And I think this sort of the environment that the two of you, for example, are creating because of your passion for it, because of your experiences and your relationship to schools and learning, I think is a.

Speaker C 00:36:10

Is a real great testament to what is possible and making change happen.

Speaker C 00:36:15

A reality and everything that we've sort of spoken about as we've sort of gone through there.

Speaker C 00:36:21

So let's just talk a little bit about our FIRE acronym because it's, it's really important from our point of view.

Speaker C 00:36:28

Here is education on fire.

Speaker C 00:36:29

And by that we talk about feedback, inspiration, resilience and empowerment.

Speaker C 00:36:34

So, Jack, first of all, what is it that strikes you, whether it's one word, whether it's a collective thing, and maybe how that might tie into what it is that you're doing?

Speaker B 00:36:43

Yeah, I think maybe feedback and empowerment together here.

Speaker B 00:36:47

But what this really think of is through our work, specifically actually working with one school we were running, a teach to teacher with a school supporting them, those students talk to their teachers.

Speaker B 00:37:00

As part of the conversation we were having, the young people were talking to their teachers about, oh, what does climate education look like?

Speaker B 00:37:06

How could we improve climate education?

Speaker B 00:37:09

And a teacher raised their hand and said, oh, actually we do a lot for climate education.

Speaker B 00:37:15

At the end of all of your lessons, we always talk to you about sustainable development goals.

Speaker B 00:37:20

And it was really interesting that obviously the perception from the school was, oh, amazing.

Speaker B 00:37:25

We're talking about sustainable development goals, we're ticking climate education.

Speaker B 00:37:29

The young people in the room then were like, oh, we actually didn't really understand what you were talking about whenever you said that.

Speaker B 00:37:37

And it was just really interesting to see that.

Speaker B 00:37:39

I suppose, like the students themselves have never been consulted.

Speaker B 00:37:43

They hadn't been given the opportunity to provide that feedback and to let the school know how they were doing.

Speaker B 00:37:49

And then it was really interesting to have that conversation with the young people and their teachers to really empower them to say, this is how the SDGs would resonate with us.

Speaker B 00:37:59

This is what climate education looks like to me, to then help the school shape their curriculum and their education into something useful for young people.

Speaker B 00:38:07

Because I think it's so important.

Speaker B 00:38:08

Like we said, young people are the key stakeholders in education.

Speaker B 00:38:13

We need to make sure that what we're teaching young people, they understand it and they resonate with it.

Speaker B 00:38:19

So I think, yeah, that feedback and empowerment for me through that one school is really, really great to see young people taking leadership of their education and being able to shape into something that works.

Speaker C 00:38:30

I love that And I love the way it fits into that story and that real life example.

Speaker C 00:38:34

That's absolutely fantastic.

Speaker C 00:38:36

And Lucy, what grabs you as you hear that?

Speaker A 00:38:41

Yeah, I think for me being a young person in today's day and age is blooming difficult.

Speaker A 00:38:49

It is very hard.

Speaker A 00:38:51

Obviously we've got climate change that we've been speaking about, but also so many other like socio political issues going on around our world and with kind of media and the doom, doom scrolling kind of culture and also like the rise of AI.

Speaker A 00:39:13

Like there are so many overwhelming things going on in today's day and age that young people are being constantly faced with.

Speaker A 00:39:24

And I just, I'm so inspired by the resilience that young do you have.

Speaker A 00:39:30

When we go into schools and we do run these sessions and they are like we've said before, they're so ready and eager to, to be, to be educated and also to take action themselves on these big world problems like climate change.

Speaker A 00:39:50

And yeah, like, like I've been saying a lot like we, I think society sometimes sees young people maybe as a less of a, I don't want to say less of a theme, but it's just kind of less in general in regard, like in relation to adults.

Speaker A 00:40:12

Whereas like I've said as well, they've got so many good ideas, like I said, they're so raring to go.

Speaker A 00:40:20

And I'm continually inspired by all of the students that I've worked with and I can imagine I will be still with all of the students that we're going to work with going forwards.

Speaker A 00:40:31

I just think, yeah, they're just, just always, always inspire me.

Speaker A 00:40:35

And I imagine it's the same with you, Jack.

Speaker B 00:40:39

Yeah, it's great to see young people taking leadership.

Speaker B 00:40:41

Like I wasn't doing that, I wouldn't be doing that.

Speaker B 00:40:44

So it's great to see them do it.

Speaker C 00:40:46

But it's a, it's a beautiful way to round off because I think the reality is, is that we can talk about those things and it's, it's great to hear those stories but you can also hit, I think you can take a, the thread of the fact that I expect that to be the case tomorrow and the day after because of the sorts of work that you're doing, because you're setting the scene in the environment for people to feel empowered, to be able to do that and, and to make that a reality.

Speaker C 00:41:11

So yeah, keep up the great work.

Speaker C 00:41:13

I'm, I'm really enjoyed today and hearing all about it.

Speaker C 00:41:16

And I think like I say, silver bullet for education may be the.

Speaker C 00:41:21

That's not going to happen tomorrow.

Speaker C 00:41:22

But I think hearing that all these things are happening on a daily basis, the opportunities are here.

Speaker C 00:41:27

That's why this podcast exists.

Speaker C 00:41:29

You know, hopefully there's someone listening to it.

Speaker C 00:41:31

Go, oh, that's a great idea.

Speaker C 00:41:32

I can look at the website, I can get involved.

Speaker C 00:41:35

I know how I can make this part of our next CPD to support people.

Speaker C 00:41:39

I can talk to, I can talk to our pupils in a slightly different way.

Speaker C 00:41:43

Even if the next assembly is talking about we've changed our energy professional provider or whatever it happens to be, it's going to make a big impact.

Speaker C 00:41:49

So, yeah, thank you both so much.

Speaker C 00:41:51

I really enjoyed the conversation and yeah, look forward to seeing how the projects progress in future.

Speaker A 00:41:57

Thank you so much.

Speaker A 00:41:58

Thank you.

Speaker C 00:42:00

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.