This strand is focused around the different systems that exist within the natural world and how humans have learnt to replicate these processes to support a healthy planet. Here you will find resources linked to this strand and to links across the curriculum.
Resource: At Cavalry Primary School they have taken a whole school approach to their Green Curriculum planning with a real focus on growing food. Each year group was given a vegetable or salad vegetable to plant in their growing bed and this was then use to link learning experiences across their curriculum. This has the bonus of providing more fresh produce to be used in school lunch. In addition to this, each class has taken responsibility for their own food waste both at break and at lunch. By their pupils taking ownership of this, it has become a normalised part of their experience and sets up good habits for life.
Curriculum Links: Science, D&T, English, Geography, History, PHSE, Maths
Resource: At Greenside, Y5 were looking at reducing waste across the school. As part of their English lessons, they wrote persuasive letters to the Head to campaign for an improved composting system in the school garden. They managed to get a mix of aerobic and anaerobic systems that could deal with cooked food waste as well as with organic matter. They even rewrote the words of ‘We will rock you’ to ‘We will, we will compost!’
Curriculum Link: English
Resource: Kings Rise had a whole school approach to their Green Systems planning. Geography, history and science units were mapped out across a whole term with a focus on waste and energy use. This was also reflected in their PHSE, across EYFS and in their Kraken sessions. Examples of their work include looking at seasonal changes, deforestation, food systems, energy use and erosion.
"The Green Curriculum focus enables us as class teachers to ensure we are teaching what it means to be 'green' throughout different subjects and to highlight and celebrate ways in which we already do this making it more purposeful and impactful. We are teaching our children that ecology runs through everything, as it does though our curriculum. “ Miss Dawes - Y5 teacher (Curriculum lead)
Curriculum Link: Science, History, Geography, PHSE
Resource: Highlees linked Green Systems to each of their half termly themes across for all year groups across the curriculum. They looked at all the strands within Green Systems and identified where they would fit alongside their existing curriculum plan. This was also reflected across their wider community work, clubs and whole school events. Their work culminated in a series of protests in their local community to raise awareness of a range of issues including saving the bees, protecting local water sources and greater access to locally produced food.
Curriculum Link: English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, DT, PHSE, Art.
Resource: Billesley planned their Green Systems strand around their curriculum for science and geography. They looked at how they could find opportunities to teach about the environment and sustainability within their existing curriculum. There is now a deeper focus on biodiversity, seasonal changes and energy systems across all year groups. Further opportunities have been found to deepen and enhance Green Systems learning in their geography curriculum.
Curriculum Links: Science and Geography
Resource: Cavalry Primary School linked the Green Curriculum to their Arts Week celebration event by curating a whole school environmental arts project. Staff could choose the artist they would like the class to focus their work on. They learned about the artist and then made their own art in that style. The work produced came together to create a whole school display of environmental art on the largest display board in school and in the hall where all pupils and visitors could enjoy it.
Curriculum Link: Art
Resource: At Parkfield, they have had a whole school focus on pond dipping within their science lessons. This links to the ecosystems strand within Green Systems. CPD was provided for all staff so they felt confident teaching around water and were able to deepen their subject knowledge.
Curriculum Link: Science
Resource: During a D&T lesson at Greenside, the pupils in Y4 were challenged with designing a product that would tackle the problem of too much plastic being used in the school greenhouse. The teachers made a great video to inspire the class! They made pots out of newspaper and planted out a range of seeds that were then able to be grown on in the school garden. This project combined D&T learning along with raising awareness of reducing waste, not using plastics, gardening and growing food.
Curriculum Links: D&T, Science, Art
Resource: The pupils in Y3 at Greenside were learning through the film Inside Out. In the story the main character moves from Minnesota to San Francisco and in the process encounters broccoli pizza. The writing tasks for this unit of learning included writing a guide to San Francisco and a series of diary entries from the perspective of the main character. In order to help the pupils to engage with these tasks and to really deepen their understanding, the teacher planned for the class to make broccoli pizza from scratch. The pupils went out to the school garden to pick everything they needed for the toppings - this linked back to their science learning, they made the dough and baked them in the school bread oven. As they had connected with the process on a deeper level, the writing outcomes were very successful and ensured a greater level of knowledge retention.
Curriculum Link: English, D&T, Science
Resource: Staff at Nene and Ramnoth School have incorporated Green Systems across their science, D&T, history and geography lessons from EYFS to Y6. Their planning draws upon the location of the school as a starting point for their Green Curriculum sessions and includes learning about life cycles, land use, the food system and seasonality. Being located in the Fens, the pupils have been able to focus their study around the importance of water on the local environment - in terms of the natural environment and in food processing, as well as investigating what food is grown and produced locally.
Curriculum Link: Science, D&T, History, Geography
Resource: At Shireland Hall teachers are weaving the Green Curriculum throughout - rather than teaching it as stand alone units. They highlight Science and Geography units as 'Think Green' units or lessons with a symbol for the teachers. The symbol is then used on the planning slides and a 'Think Green' slide is used to open up discussions around the information taught in the lesson. This ensures that pupils and staff alike can see how teaching and learning about green issues crosses the whole curriculum.
Curriculum Links: Science, Geography
Resource: At The Hyde they have woven the Green Curriculum into their science lessons from EYFS to Y6. This has enabled them to focus on the interconnectivity of the different systems in both the natural and the manmade world. They have also hosted a family tree planting day with the intention of increasing the biodiversity of their site and to raise awareness of growing their own food.