The New Three Rs Should Be Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Call for primary school National Curriculum to include climate change

As Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner calls for climate change to be included in the National Curriculum, a leading education company made up of former school teachers has said the subject should be taught from the start of primary school.

Currently, teaching climate change is restricted to chemistry and geography in key stages 3 and 4 when children are aged 11-14, but leading education resources company PlanBee has called for children to be taught the subject from the start of their school careers.

‘It is the single biggest issue affecting children's futures,’ said PlanBee’s Oli Ryan, a former primary school teacher.

‘It looms over everything else, and we have a responsibility to prepare children from a young age as best we can.’

With this in mind, PlanBee has developed an entire primary school curriculum focusing on climate change and what children can do about it, including ‘the new Three Rs’: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Speaking last week as UK Climate Strike Network hosted more climate change school strikes across the country, Oli said:

‘We owe to children to act now, in every aspect of their lives – and especially in schools.

‘Here at PlanBee, we’ve been scratching our heads for some time, thinking about how we can support primary teachers by creating resources to help address these issues and prepare children for the future. We, like all teachers, want them to grow up to be confident, safe, socially responsible and capable of protecting our fragile planet.’

He said felt that while children shouldn’t be shielded from the problems they will grow to inherit as adults, they shouldn’t be left feeling anxious and helpless about them, either.

The Plan Bee curriculum covers seven key climate change topics:

Ethical trading
Fulfilled lives
Ecosystems
Climate change
Water scarcity
Biodiversity
Finite planet

The themes are explored in an age-appropriate fashion, ensuring not only that children can develop a realistic understanding of both the problems they and others inheriting the planet face, but develop a clear idea of what they can do about it.

In this curriculum, the new three 'Rs' are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Children are tasked with finding ways to reduce waste by working together to reduce what is sent to landfill, both at school and at home.

The lessons also challenge children to take action to help Britain's bee population survive and thrive at school and at home.

In ‘Children know best!’, they generate their own ideas for ways in which they can teach adults to make more eco-friendly decisions in their daily lives.

‘These ideas will help them to make a real difference, to have a positive impact, improving the lives of others around the world and to protect the planet, too,’ said Oli.

He said that while children, understanding the urgency better than us, are now taking it upon themselves to save the planet, schools owe it to them to prepare them for the future in an uncertain world, and make positive changes.

Oli said:

‘Teaching children about issues directly related to climate change should go hand in hand with learning about ethical trading, and the harm caused by unchecked, rampant consumerism.

‘We have let children down - now they are taking it upon themselves to do something. But, there is still time for us to help them take action on climate change, by providing world-class education on climate change, starting in primary schools.’