What is Gillian Keegan saying about climate education?

We wrote to Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, to share our campaign asks, and to request a meeting. We were happy to receive a response in July. You can read the full response here. We have written a response to this, which we are sending post-summer recess and RAAC priority, and will share publicly soon so watch this space.

Below are some key points that the Secretary of State makes in her letter and some brief responses from us:

Topics related to climate change and the environment are included in science, geography and citizenship education.

• We are asking for climate education to be integrated across all subjects at all levels of education.
  

A progress report on the Department for Education's sustainability and climate change strategy will be published later this year.

• We are happy to see how updates to the strategy as a result of ours and others' input but there is still no inclusion of a reform to the national curriculum to integrate climate education.

The Department for Education is providing resources for teachers on climate change and sustainability through the National Education Nature Park online hub.

• We are pleased to see the vision for practical and action-oriented opportunities for students, including those who live in urban areas, or have reduced access to school grounds.

A new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) qualification was created for science teachers around Climate Change and Sustainability.

• We are asking for climate education for all teachers, no matter what subject they teach.
  

Some funding was allocated to the retrofitting of Education Buildings to improve their carbon footprint and energy efficiency.

• We are asking for further funding needed to fully retrofit all schools to net-zero standards, particularly when school infrastructure is being negatively impacted by more extreme heating and cooling and greater humidity.