Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) teaching resources and (b) continuous professional development materials provided by schools on climate change are (i) adequate and (ii) up-to-date.

The National Curriculum already includes content which allows for teaching on environmental and sustainability issues such as climate change in both the science and geography curricula from Key Stage 1 onwards.

As the National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content that the Department expects schools to cover in each subject, teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. They can choose to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish, such as the impact of human actions on the environment. This may be influenced by the latest academic developments on climate change, which teachers can access via resources available from the science and geography learned societies and subject associations.

The Department wants to ensure that all teachers have access to high-quality teaching resources and continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities to ensure pupils have a firm understanding. In order for CPD to be effective, it needs to be tailored to the needs of the individual, their career context and their development needs. As such, decisions related to CPD participation and selection rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers.

The Department has invested in specialist training, including science specific CPD available through the national network of Science Learning Partnerships. We also fund bursaries for science teachers to attend the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Learning Centre through Project Enthuse. £4.84 million has also been made available for the Oak National Academy for academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21 to provide a wide range of subject video lessons and teaching resources from Reception up to Year 11 within which topics relating to climate change and the environment are covered.