What made you choose invertebrate diversity as your investigation topic?
Researcher: So for the project with school, we decided to look at insect, well, invertebrate diversity in different habitat types. And so we chose different areas within the school grounds. They conveniently had a wooded area, a big grass and a big grass field. So that kind of made two very different habitats.
How did you structure the activities?
Researcher: We had some classroom sessions where the students came up with some predictions about what they thought might happen. And so we did that before we set out the pitfall traps. Then we left the pitfall traps for about a week and then the kids all went out and we went and had a look to see what we could find. I also went in for an extra session towards the end where I just happened to have some moth traps. So we set up some moth traps again in different places in the school grounds.
What surprised you most?
Researcher: I think it’s a year four class and I’d never taught them (that age) before. So that was quite different. The way that the knowledge the children had and also kind of the biases the children already had, like against the natural world – that already seemed to be embedded in them. They didn’t care. But equally, when prodded and given the encouragement, they’re very quickly engaged with that kind of thing.
What have you taken from this experience?
Researcher: For me, it made me think a bit more about how we teach it and how we as a university engage with primary level education. For me, that was quite useful because I am a teacher full time basically at university. So seeing it at primary school end is quite interesting.
What happens next?
Researcher: I’m looking at applying for a partnership grant. We’re going to look at invertebrate diversity in different patches of the playground in the school. And then we’re going to dig up what is grass or just bare earth and lay some wildflower turf onto those areas. And then the children will then come back the following year. Then when they’re in year two, they’ll go back again and then quantify the insects they see in those patches and see if there’s a measured increase in diversity or abundance of these insects. If schools can do that, and if we can show that we can even just like cutting up a 20 metres squared of playing grass and replacing it with wildflower turf, and it looks nice too.
What made you choose air quality as your investigation topic?
Teacher: I became involved through our school’s science quality mark process. The research team sent out information, and air quality stood out to me because it felt relevant and achievable. Our STEM partner was brilliant – she works in public health at the council, so she brought this whole other dimension. She helped us realise the connection between planetary health and public health and air quality.
Researcher: I work across several roles-council, university lecturer in materials engineering, evaluation lead-so I was looking for something that bridged those worlds. Indoor air quality monitoring fit perfectly. I wanted to co-design everything with the teacher and children rather than arriving with a predetermined agenda.
How did you structure the activities?
Teacher: We did it in a couple of stages, so we kind of broadened it each time. They started by looking just in their classroom. We were able to compare different areas of the classroom-by the window, by the door, next to the desk. Then we eventually got to a point where the children were taking the air quality monitors to different places around the school to compare the air quality around the school with the classroom. We looked at lichens as well as natural air quality monitors because we’re a concrete jungle. We don’t have a field, there’s no grass, there’s not very many trees. So the children also don’t have very much access to that.
Researcher: I produced slide decks and sorting activities for the children and alongside the teacher, the teacher then turned these into laminated resource kits that they could spread amongst the school. The scientific process-designing a hypothesis, collecting data properly, analysing it, thinking about conclusions. But also-and this matters-considering your audience. How do you present this so it actually changes something? How does it affect human health and climate health around you?
What surprised you most?
Teacher: We had this moment where there was a fire at a nearby building and the air quality monitors were alarming. The children wrote down: there is a fire over the road. So we plotted the results and saw the anomalies-and they connected that to outdoor pollutants affecting indoor air quality. It wasn’t a lesson. It was real discovery happening in front of them.
Researcher: It felt collaborative. It felt natural. It felt like a learning environment. It felt like it was reflective. It was everything and more I hoped it to be. I recognised that she was an absolute specialist in terms of teaching and understanding the audience that is year 4 and she recognised that I was an expert in the room around research design methodology and climate science.
What have you taken from this experience?
Teacher: I’d probably run it again, but I’d want more time to deepen it even further. The momentum was there. Children would come in with questions; parents would ask about air quality at home. That tells you something is working.
Researcher: The co-design methodology, it brought a lot to my learning. I have my preconceived ideas of what I gave to them, but they certainly gave that opportunity to co-design and following that type of methodology, it brought a lot to my learning. This approach showcasing a journey through video rather than a report, I’ve now taken into other projects and other areas of my work entirely.
What happens next?
Teacher: It built my confidence a lot in the knowledge of the topic and being able to deliver that to children. On the strength of this project, I went to a climate conference at Sheffield Hallam, and I’ve unofficially taken on the role of eco ambassador at school. I’m planning climate literacy lessons for reception children next year-there’s literally nothing out there for that age group, so I’m creating it myself. The confidence this gave me… I wouldn’t have done that before.
Researcher: I’ve also offered out the lichen air quality monitoring to schools, so there’s regional reach for you. I delivered this in Rotherham and now I’ve proposed to move it to schools and handed them my pack of things to do at a Doncaster school.
The Climate Leaders’ Conference was a free, one-day professional learning event held on Thursday 6 March 2025 at Sheffield Hallam University’s City Campus. It was organised by the Institute of Education as part of its work with the Climate Action in South Yorkshire Schools and Education Settings network. The conference was fully funded by Sheffield Hallam University and aimed to support leaders across education settings to take meaningful action on climate change, sustainability and biodiversity.
The conference brought together over 150 education professionals from across the UK, including leaders from:
Early years settings, primary and secondary schools
Colleges and further education
Universities
Local authorities
Charities and intermediary organisations supporting education settings
Participants included trustees, governors, CEOs, heads, deputy heads, curriculum leaders, business managers, and eco-leads – with a strong emphasis on pairing eco-leads with senior leaders to maximise impact.
A longitudinal evaluation report of the conference was compiled, tracking the sustained impact of the event at three and six months after attendance. Key findings highlighted that:
100% of respondents at three-months reported taking at least one action as a result of attending the conference, with many reporting multiple actions.
By six-months, many participants had maintained, refined or embedded their actions into ongoing practice, moving from individual efforts toward wider institutional influence.
Participants reported increased confidence in leading climate education and embedding sustainability within curricula and strategic planning.
Persistent barriers noted included time constraints, workload pressures, resource limitations, and the need for institutional support to sustain long-term change.
The evaluation concluded that the conference effectively supported capacity-building and provided a foundation for sustained climate and sustainability action, particularly where organisational leadership and structures supported follow-through and embedding of practices.
Thank you to Steph and Mandy from Lydgate Junior School for hosting and giving us a tour of the amazing school grounds. Below are the presentations and projects/activities mentioned:
Pupils from 25 schools throughout South Yorkshire took part in this year’s Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire Conference at New York Stadium, Rotherham last Thursday.
The conference was opened by Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham Central, who sent a video message to open the conference. She spoke about how unfair it was that those who have made the smallest contribution to climate change are suffering the most. Countries in the global south are having to deal with floods, droughts and crop failures when it is emissions from the rich countries that have caused this. Some small island states are in imminent danger due to rising sea levels and two could be submerged before the end of the century. Rotherham has seen flooding in Whiston and Treeton, so it’s coming to us too. She said the most simple thing you can do to combat climate change is write to your MP.
Youth drama group Drama Kids performed a powerful extract from a script they had devised themselves called ‘Trash Planet’, calling for us all, including governments, to rise to the challenge of climate solutions.
Carolyn Leary explained some alarming facts about temperatures. In 2015 the Paris Agreement highlighted the importance of not exceeding a 1.5C increase in average world temperatures, but it is now clear we will overshoot this. The average global temperature in the Ice Age was 10C and the average planetary temperature now is 15C, so 1.5 makes a massive difference. Think of it like your body temperature-which is usually 37C. If you have a temperature of 38.5 you are very ill. Our planet is currently sick.
The Zines workshop got children making small magazines about nature, using old magazines to cut and paste. It was run by the National Education Nature Park who provide free programmes for schools to empower children and young people to make a positive difference to both their own and nature’s future.
The Energy Heroes workshop looked at the maths of our energy mix. Did you know that 29.4% of our electricity now comes from wind power, bigger than gas at 25.9%? A typical annual bill for a primary school’s energy is now £40,000. Energy Heroes worked out that if the staff and pupils work together to turn off appliances when not needed and avoid overheating classrooms, bills can be cut by 10%, saving a school £4000 a year.
The children were encouraged to compose a rap. Led by professional musicians each small group came up with a verse and it was all put together to make a song. The group I sat with came up with
Gas and coal are so mean So is Biomass it seems Make more wind and use the sun Make our world a better one!
It was wonderful to see students’ ideas being turned into a finished product in such a short time. They performed it to everybody at the end of the day, using bin lids to add to the percussion.
Hope for the Future led this workshop to encourage the youngsters to engage with their MP’s. Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohammed was used as a case study and students worked out what common interests they had with her. They worked on questions to ask her and a video was made of students asking each question which will be sent to Abtisam Mohammed who has promised to make a video with her replies.
Lunchtime gave the students time to interact with the many stalls from different environmental groups to pick up ideas to take back to their schools.
Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust ran a Greenspace Role Play workshop about planning an open space. They used Eldon Road Recreation Ground in Rotherham as a case study. Each group was given a budget of £70,000 and had to choose how to spend it, on items such as tree planting, wildflower meadows, ponds, bird and bat boxes, habitat improvements for otters, litter picks, paths, bins, fences, play equipment and community events. Students annotated a map of the park and then had to justify how they had spent their money to other participants. Students learnt how it was important to balance the needs of different people and nature so that the space worked for everyone.
Towards the end of the day, each school created an Action Plan to take back to their school leaders to make positive changes to their school for climate and nature. Each student chose one priority they thought the school should concentrate on. These included school meals, school ethos, curriculum, food growing, heating and insulation, gender equality, buying less and buying eco products, active travel and engaging the community. Students gathered around a mentor for each idea and discussed what their school might do and what help they might need to achieve it. Then students returned to school groups to debate and finalise their plan.
The Art Competition was won with a collaborative effort from Astrea Academy and Freya won the poetry competition. The event ended with the presentation of a Climate Hope banner created during the course of the day by community sewing group, Common Thread.
Common Thread, a community project that organises social exchanges of clothing, repair workshops, and playful up-cycling activities, created a banner based on patches schools brought with them on the theme of climate hope. They had this to say about the SCESY Conference:
‘What a FANTASTIC and inspirational day working on this community art banner and discussing the slow fashion movement with so many brilliant young people at the Schools Climate Education South Yorkshire Schools Conference!’
Students I spoke to had enjoyed the day and were enthusiastic to go back to their schools and help make some changes. Amina from Rescope Primary thought adults should spend more time enjoying nature and had made a Zine about this. Jane and Jessica wanted more wildflowers to encourage butterflies and bees and wanted their MP to make more greenspaces in the community.
