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Our Director of Education and Youth Engagement, Dr Morgan Phillips, was invited to attend the Department for Education’s ministerial reception this week. It was a chance to meet the Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson MP and her Ministerial colleagues.

Also in attendance were key figures from Ofsted, Ofqual, the teaching unions, NGOs, and academia, along with Prof. Becky Francis, chair of the ongoing Curriculum and Assessment review, and numerous other notable figures, including David Laws, a former Minister of State for Schools.

Below are some of Morgan’s reflections on the event, the Secretary of State’s speech, and how climate and sustainability education advocates might respond. 

"In her speech, Bridget Phillipson reminded us that it is five months to the day since Labour took power and she reeled off a list of things they've achieved in that time. She also reiterated her four priorities as Secretary of State. These all speak to Labour's 'Opportunity' mission and their determination to break down the barriers to those opportunities:

1. Give children the best start in life (with a strong focus on early years)
2. Help every child to achieve and thrive at school (which for Phillipson is about the knowledge and skills young people need to get on in life) 
3. Building skills for opportunities and growth (pathways into and through higher ed and into jobs)
4. Building family security (ensuring families can get their basic needs met). 

She was keen to emphasise that her number one priority is to give children the best start in life. This is great news for the early years sector, which is in desperate need of support, investment here is critical. 

I wasn't expecting Phillipson to mention the climate and nature crisis and educational responses to it, and she didn't. But the very fact that five of us (pictured above), who are explicitly working on sustainability education, were invited into a room like this is positive in itself.

Strategically, now, it is incumbent on us to align our goals, with Phillipson's four priority areas. The way to do this, is to ensure policymakers see that sustainability education is good education - it helps young people from early years onwards to get on in life, and prepares them (individually and collectively) for the challenges life will throw at them."

With support from JJ Charitable Trust, and in partnership with colleagues from UCL, SOS-UK, Ashden and others, Global Action Plan is campaigning to ensure the education system improves its response to the climate and nature crisis.

We attended five of the recent Department for Education roadshow events, submitted a detailed response to the call for evidence, and have gathered 150+ signatures for an open letter that highlights the pressing need for the National Curriculum to cover the climate and nature crisis in more depth and more strategically.

To join Global Action Plan’s community of educators, please sign up to the Transform Our World monthly newsletter to receive news stories about youth social action, upcoming opportunities for educators and useful resources, and to join efforts to call for better and more sustainability education.

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