Commenting on a survey by Pearson that shows the majority of people in the UK believe climate change should be taught in primary school or earlier, James Bowen, director of policy for school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“There is a huge amount of good work already taking place in schools. Many primary schools are already actively teaching pupils about the importance of conserving and protecting our planet. We know this generation of pupils are passionate about bringing about meaningful change.”

Graham Frost, NAHT national executive member and headteacher of Robert Ferguson Primary School in Carlisle, who proposed a motion encouraging the teaching of the climate crisis to NAHT’s annual conference in 2019, said:

“Education is almost universally considered the means by which we build for a better future, so we simply have to equip children with the knowledge they need to challenge politicians and business leaders to act urgently on climate change.

“School leaders cannot ignore the growing pupil voice on climate change, and children cannot articulately challenge the powers-that-be without being educated. Equipped with scientific knowledge, our pupils can see that system-wide technological, political, sociological and economic changes on at a local and global level are urgently and desperately needed.”