A win for climate education, but is it enough for wildlife?

In England, the long-awaited Curriculum and Assessment Review’s Final Report and Recommendations has been published. Born Free’s Community Engagement Team delve deeper into how these changes could impact the way young people feel about and engage with wildlife and the environment.

What is the Curriculum and Assessment Review?

The last overhaul to the English National curriculum took place over a decade ago, under the then-Conservative Government. Whilst there have been some adjustments to England’s National Curriculum since, this is the first major change to the curriculum as a whole.

Conducted by an independent panel, this review set out recommendations to refine and improve the current Curriculum and Assessment Framework in England’s state schools and academies. With the majority of recommendations having been approved by the Government, a final revised National Curriculum will be published in 2027, with England’s schools having until 2028 to implement the first phase of changes.

Why does this matter to Born Free?

Education is key to providing the next generation with the necessary skills and tools to grow up as compassionate, environmentally-minded individuals. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, so it’s vital that young people are armed with the knowledge and drive to enable them to be part of the solution to aid environmental recovery.

With the curriculum review providing an opportunity for children and young people to gain a better understanding of the issues impacting our wildlife and climate, last year, Born Free’s Community Engagement Team submitted evidence and accompanying recommendations to the panel. These included:

• Thoughtful sequencing of climate change, and related topics, to ensure children build a coherent foundation throughout their studies, including the link between biodiversity loss and climate change being included across Key Stages
• The inclusion of animal welfare and animal sentience within the National Curriculum (including empathy and ethics)
• Any reference to animals being hatched, reared, brought into, or kept in schools being removed from the National Curriculum, both in the statutory and non-statutory guidance, to ensure animal welfare is not undermined.

What did the final review recommend?

There’s some good news for climate and sustainability! Recommendations have been made to embed these topics throughout children’s schooling. This means more explicit inclusion of climate change during primary school, as well as climate and sustainability to be more meaningfully and coherently integrated across different subject areas, including Science, Geography, Design Technology and Citizenship, all the way up to and including post-16 education.

However, the review made no mention of biodiversity loss and its intrinsic links to the climate crisis. Biodiversity is one of our strongest natural defences against climate change, yet the climate crisis is having an adverse impact on biodiversity. These two crises are intertwined, so need to be tackled together, and therefore should be taught together.

Laura Eastwood, Head of Community Engagement said: “Whilst we welcome the inclusion of climate and sustainability across Key Stages and different subject areas, resulting in a more holistic education around these topics, we a disappointed that the link between the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis has been omitted from the report. This omission puts the onus on schools and teachers to make this link themselves, meaning that only those with sufficient knowledge and passion will drive this issue forward in their lessons.”

Further positive developments from the review include a greater emphasis on ‘adventurous outdoor activities’ in PE. Studies have shown participation in these kinds of sports, for example triathlon, mountain biking and rock climbing, can increase nature-connectedness and therefore pro-environmental behaviours.

In addition, the Government will set out a new core ’enrichment‘ offer, which every school and college should aim to provide for all children, including the provision of access to nature, the outdoors and adventure. Giving more young people opportunities to spend time outdoors, build a connection to nature and a sense of stewardship for the planet can only be a positive thing.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news for animals and wildlife. Despite policymakers often referring to the UK as a ‘nation of animal lovers’, and recent legal recognition that many animals have the capacity to feel emotions, such as joy and fear, this has not been reflected in the review. Sadly, there is no explicit mention of animal welfare or animal sentience, and it remains to be seen whether exploitative practises, such as class hatching schemes, remain in curriculum guidance.

Laura Eastwood added: “We feel this is a real missed opportunity. The lack of inclusion of animals, their welfare and their legal, sentient status, means another generation of children will grow up with gaps in their understanding. We risk animals, both domestic and wild, being viewed as objects, something for our entertainment, rather than thinking, feeling beings who deserve our empathy and respect, and the ability to live their lives according to their needs.”

What next?

Born Free will eagerly await the publication of the updated National Curriculum for England. We continue to work with like-minded organisations and engage with decision-makers, to try to ensure that vital links between the climate and biodiversity crises are included in curriculum content. We will also continue to fight for the inclusion of animal welfare and sentience, promoting empathy for the living beings we share this planet with, amongst young people.

As education is a devolved issue, Born Free will also call upon the devolved parliaments and assemblies to encourage these inclusions within their own National Curriculums, to ensure children and young people across the four nations grow up with a better understanding of animals, their welfare and the vital role wildlife, and biodiversity as a whole, plays in enhancing our own well-being, and in tackling the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

Find out more about Born Free’s education work in the UK