The ASE is delighted to be hosting its Annual Conference, generously sponsored by AQA, at the University of Nottingham from 9th to 11th January 2025. International sessions are incorporated throughout the event’s 3 days and we will have a great exhibition with lots of exclusive Conference offers. Post-16 focus-day and for those involved in leading and delivering professional development, the Teacher Developers’ Group programme is Thursday. Friday is the dedicated Technicians day, kindly sponsored by Philip Harris, and Early Career Teacher day. Sessions for both Primary and 11-19 are threaded throughout all 3 days with a focus on Research on Saturday.
Book your tickets now at https://ase2025AnnConf.eventbrite.co.uk - and remember, if you are an ASE member you will benefit from hugely discounted prices! Check out our membership here - it’s free for Early Career Teachers and only £25 for Technicians!
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There is no question that a strong, evidence-informed and solutions-focused approach to teaching about climate change is vital to our young people. We have moved on from the "is it happening?" and "what causes it?" stages of our pedagogy, and are now developing and improving our understanding of the best ways to teach a range of diverse and complex impacts, and to explore and suggest solutions in a politicised, dynamic and complex world and education landscape. With many options and programmes available, how do you navigate the best resources for your teaching and your students?
In this session, we'll explore the ways in which we can draw inspiration from a multi-disciplinary climate science, to improve our teaching of science. Presenting a range of tools, visualisations and simulations - including a short demonstration workshop - this session will inspire you to explore different sources and resources, and take away plenty of ideas and examples to include in training and teaching.
Our Place on Earth is a Wonderseekers (the charity behind Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium) programme, with objectives to build partnerships to broaden our organisational expertise and credibility, expand and diversify our science engagement work to engage children with the natural sciences and local natural heritage, develop essential science enquiry skills and build awareness of local conservation. These objectives will be achieved by developing engaging, inclusive learning experiences and resources, on-site and in communities, to create equitable opportunities for children, especially those from underserved communities. Further, the output of this programme is to facilitate children's voice and be a better learning organisation, by developing equitable co-working practices with children, scientists and other practitioners. This will allow us to deliver a relevant, relatable project and inform future developments and social change.
This session will discuss the findings from the development phase of the programme, highlighting the activities undertaken, the lessons learned from those sessions, including how we have worked with an artist and scientists in developing the activities for children. The findings from our study into the voices and concerns of children about the environment, will be shared with the audience, as well as an outline of how we have made the activities accessible to a diverse range of needs. The focus of this session will be on accessibility and how to provide opportunities to capture children’s voice and provide them with a sense of agency about the environment, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. We feel that it is important to highlight to children that climate change is on their doorstep and is something they can tangibly get involved with - creating a network of opportunities within the local community (e.g. citizen science, experience days with researchers and in-house school trip activities). The programme also entails the design of an exhibition space that will function as an accessible learning space too.
Attendants of the sessions will be able to engage with some of the activities that were carried out during the development phase of the programme, including learning about soil, sound in nature, light pollution, sustainable farming and the conservation of endangered species. Following a short presentation and activity period, there will be time dedicated to Q&A to discuss matters such as SEND provision, what accessibility means to you and us, how strive to provide as equitable an experience as possible and what we are doing to open the floor to children’s voice.
Coding for Climate Action is an innovative cross-curricular program that empowers KS2 and KS3 students to explore climate change issues and design solutions using code and micro:bit inventions. Developed in partnership with Digitall, this comprehensive curriculum provides ready-to-use lesson plans, student journals, slide decks, and other resources to seamlessly integrate computer science into science and sustainability education.
The program is built around an anchoring phenomenon - the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. Students are challenged to create early warning systems and other digital solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Through this real-world, relevant context, they develop key computational thinking skills like coding, data analysis, and problem-solving, while also cultivating creativity and a solutions-oriented mindset.
Aligned to the national curriculum, the Coding for Climate Action materials include detailed lesson plans, student activity journals, exemplars, and comprehensive curriculum maps. Designed as a plug-and-play unit, the resources make it easy for teachers to swap these engaging climate-focused lessons into their existing schemes of work. Whether you're looking to inject more climate education into your computing curriculum or bring computational skills into your science lessons, this session will equip you with the tools and strategies to empower your students as the next generation of climate leaders and digital innovators. Join us to explore how Coding for Climate Action can ignite students' passion for addressing environmental challenges through computer science.
Amazon is here to make a difference in the world, in a way unique to Amazon. With a culture built around solving “impossible” problems, we take a different, more hands-on approach to what is traditionally known as corporate philanthropy. We know that money is important, but we... Read More →
Thursday January 9, 2025 11:15 - 12:05 GMT
Pope LT C17
The era of warning about impending ecological disasters has passed. These days we document them. Today’s thirteen-year-olds have already experienced the ten warmest years on record and each passing year will probably be hotter than the last. They are among a generation of young people living with the knowledge that this world, their home, is likely to become less habitable as they grow up. The implications of this for young people, for educators and for education itself are daunting. This is the backdrop to a seminar that will explore the question of how educators’ role(s) might adapt in response to this epoch that we have labelled the Anthropocene.
The seminar will draw on Paul’s research on student-led projects with schools across Europe and on educator competences as well as his role as a teacher educator and his recent work with the youth-led organisation Teach the Future. While making a case for the centrality of emotions in education (particularly in STEM subjects), Paul will consider some of the dangers and double binds inherent in educating about – and advocating for – sustainability in the current political climate. Although rooted in the policy context of England, his talk will highlight issues that are likely to arise in any democratic society with a publicly funded formal education system. If this all sounds rather ominous, rest assured, Paul is not a depressive type. He has always sought pragmatic ways of working with systemic or ‘wicked’ problems and recognises the human need for meaningful sources of hope.
EdD Course Leader, School of Education and Science, University of Gloucestershire
Paul leads the Doctor of Education programme plus MA and BEd modules on learning and sustainability at the University of Gloucestershire. His research focuses on education for sustainable Development (ESD) and he was principle investigator of ‘A Rounder Sense of Purpose’, a six-year... Read More →
Thursday January 9, 2025 13:15 - 14:05 GMT
Pope LT C15
Every student should leave school with the basic climate literacy that enables them to engage with the media, make informed decisions about their personal opportunities and responsibilities, act as local and global citizens and develop green careers. But what do we mean by climate literacy, and how do we cater for the different forms of climate literacy required by different school leavers?
Sylvia Knight is Head of Education at the Royal Meteorological Society and a visiting Professor in the schools of Education and of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences at the University of Reading. With a background in climate science, her role involves supporting the... Read More →
Thursday January 9, 2025 14:15 - 15:05 GMT
Pope LT C17
Drawing on the Carbon Literacy Project, come and learn what carbon literacy involves. More importantly, you will leave with some ideas for how you can make a difference to our planet.
