Understanding our world and learning how to care for it

At North Mead, Sustainability helps children understand the relationship between people, places, resources and the natural world. It develops knowledge first, then helps pupils connect ideas, evaluate choices and take informed action.

Sustainability at North Mead

  • Understand — build knowledge of environmental issues.
  • Connect — see how people, resources, places and ecosystems are linked.
  • Evaluate — compare choices, consequences and possible solutions.
  • Act — take meaningful, informed action and review its impact.

What children learn

Phase What children learn
EYFS Care for plants and animals, explore weather and seasons, reduce waste, recycle and care for the immediate environment.
KS1 Build understanding of habitats, materials, waste, food, water and simple environmental responsibility.
Lower KS2 Explore biodiversity, resources, energy, pollution, conservation, local environmental change and the reasons behind sustainable choices.
Upper KS2 Investigate climate change, consumption, trade and resources, sustainable communities, global interdependence and competing solutions; plan and evaluate informed action.

From awareness to action

Children are not simply told to recycle or save energy. They learn why environmental issues happen, what evidence tells us, what different solutions involve and how individual, community and system-level decisions interact.

Curriculum connections

Sustainability draws deliberately on Science, Geography, Design Technology and PSHCE while retaining its own progression. It also links to pupil leadership, local fieldwork, conservation, growing, environmental projects and Fantastic Fifty experiences.

Hopeful, informed citizenship

We teach environmental challenges honestly without making children feel powerless. The aim is knowledgeable, critical and practical hope: pupils who understand that positive change is possible and that responsible action is strongest when it is informed.

Climate-Action-Plan

NM Sustainability Curriculum Overview

Related North Mead Pages

  • Our Curriculum
  • Science
  • Geography
  • Design Technology
  • Pupil Leadership