Issue 7

February 2022

In this newsletter we are including everything you need to know in order to maximize the benefit of our conference for your students. We include:

• What you need to know and do in advance of the conference
• NEW! Conference sessions by Curriculum Area and Key Stage 
• An introduction to the authors on our panel
• A note about live sessions
• The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Climate Competition!

Also included in this newsletter are two important opportunities to share your opinions regarding the school climate curriculum, and Sheffield City Council climate action.

Click the button below for all the essential information about how to attend the conference, what you need to do in advance, and answers to your questions.

NEW! In response to requests, this year we have provided a breakdown of conference sessions by Curriculum Area and Key Stage (one page per key stage). Most sessions are aimed at KS2, 3, and 4, but this year, in response to requests, we also have several sessions suitable for KS1 and 5.

Remember there are also Teacher CPD sessions on each day of the conference!

Links to downloadable resources for each session, and further updates will be provided nearer the time of the conference.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and Schools’ Climate Education South Yorkshire are (SCESY) holding a poster competition across South Yorkshire.

The theme for 2022 is ‘Sustainable South Yorkshire’… A poster on a theme of environmental sustainability from walking to school, to riding bikes, to planting trees or to turning the lights off.

Winning designs will be announced at the South Yorkshire Schools Climate Conference March 1^st - 3^rd 2022 and displayed on the SYMCA Website.

The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges.

The judges will be looking for:

· Creativity in approach – Innovative angle on the content or creative interpretation of the theme

· Content – Clear, accurate and informative about an environmental sustainability topic

· Effective communication – presented and communicated in an engaging way

The competition is open February 8th – February 20^th.

Please send entries in PDF format to Competitions@SouthYorkshire-CA.Gov.uk with the subject line "Sustainable South Yorkshire" as an attachment with the file name of the school, the artists name and age.

Have your say on DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Draft Strategy

This is an anonymous survey to gather feedback on the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Draft Strategy. This will run until 23:59 on 20 February. In order to answer the questions in the survey, you will need to have read the Department’s draft strategy.

If you would like to take part in the survey, please click here.

Please share the link to the survey and the DfE social media post about the survey: https://twitter.com/educationgovuk/status/1488191593249226756

Sheffield City Council Citizens Survey

"Improving our impact on the climate is important for all of us. Sheffield City Council is taking action, and we will be doing more both to reduce our own emissions and to support others in the city to reduce theirs as well. It would be helpful if you can take a few minutes to tell us your thoughts so that we can shape our work. This survey includes some general questions about what people and organisations think would help them take action on climate change, as well as some more specific questions about knowledge and communication about climate action in general. We will be asking more about what is needed in specific areas in the future, and there is an opportunity at the end to sign up to be kept informed.

Thank you for your time and thoughts."

Sheffield City Council

Click here to take part in the survey.

Here at SCESY our goal is to create a supportive network of schools within the South Yorkshire region. So please let us know of your stories and successes so that we can share them in future newsletters. Send your photos, stories and video links to schools@scesy.org.uk

Previous newsletters can be found here. 

If you have not yet signed up with Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire, click the button below.