Earthwatch Education
John Lyon’s Charity — Schools in Partnership Fund 🏫✨
We came across a funding opportunity that might be of interest to London schools: John Lyon’s Charity – Schools in Partnership Fund.
Here’s a quick overview:
The fund supports groups or clusters of two or more schools working together (not single-school applications).
Grants can cover themes such as school access & progression, emotional wellbeing, arts & culture, and SEND enrichment.
You can apply for up to £60,000, and funding may stretch across multiple years.
The purpose is to support some of the most challenged pupils by strengthening links with home, enhancing collaboration, and boosting opportunity.
This is such brilliant opportunity - please take a look if you are looking to gain some funding for a project focussing on one of these areas!
👉 Schools in Partnership Fund | John Lyon's Charity
Photo credits: John Lyon's Charity
🌳 Take part in a real citizen science project: Tiny Forest Tree Survey! 🍂
From 6–19 October 2025, we at Earthwatch Europe are inviting citizens, schools, and nature lovers to take part in our Tiny Forest Tree Survey.
If you know a nearby Tiny Forest (or your school has one), here’s how you can get involved:
Sign up and download a free Survey Pack with instructions, recording sheets, and an autumn tree ID guide.
Visit your Tiny Forest, measure and identify the tagged trees during the survey window.
Submit your results online. You’ll contribute to important research on how Tiny Forests grow and how much carbon they store over time.
❓Why do we want you to measure Tiny Forest trees?
By measuring trees at your Tiny Forest, you will be contributing to scientific research!
You will help our team of scientists to explore how Tiny Forest sites grow, and how much carbon they store over time. This develops the scientific understanding of how Tiny Forests benefit people and wildlife in urban communities.
Be a science superhero! 🦸🏆
Taking part in a Tiny Forest citizen science survey is a great opportunity to spend some mindful time outside in your local area. It’s also a brilliant way to connect with your community and spend time with family and friends in nature.
If your school has a Tiny Forest or you care for one locally, this is a perfect opportunity to turn it into a living classroom. Sign up now and be part of the forest story! 👉 Tiny Forest Tree Survey - Earthwatch Europe
Let’s get out there and measure our trees! 🌱
🌟 Youth Work Week 2025 🌱
From 3–9 November, the National Youth Agency is celebrating Youth Work Week under the theme:
“Building Brighter Futures: Safe places, trusted support, and opportunities to thrive.”
It’s a powerful reminder of the role trusted adults and safe, inspiring spaces play in helping young people grow, explore, and imagine new possibilities.
In our own work, whether in classrooms, school grounds, or community spaces, many of us see how these same principles shape positive experiences for young people — giving them the confidence to try, connect, and care for the world around them.
This week is a chance to:
🌿 Celebrate the impact of youth work across the UK
🗣 Amplify young people’s voices and stories
🤝 Recognise the many ways different sectors contribute to safe, supportive spaces
👉 Join the conversation with #YouthWorkWeek #YWW25.
👉 Find out more at Youth Work Week 2025: Building Brighter Futures - National Youth Agency
Join this upcoming Learning Lunch with Our Shared World 🥪📚🏫
Date: 7th October 2025, 13:15-13:45pm GMT
The Our Shared World Learning Lunches are back, and they are kicking it off with an exclusive session with Dr Paul Vare.
Join them on the 7th October 2025 at 13:15pm to hear from Paul, Chair of the NAEE and Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Education, Health and Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire, and get stuck into a discussion amongst peers!
Alongside his other work, Paul co-developed the Rounder Sense of Purpose Framework, funded by EU Erasmus+ . In this Learning Lunch, Paul will walk you through the palette of competences the RSP framework supports and develops, focusing one in particular: empathy.
After a short overview, join OSW members in discussing the provocation: What should we be attending to in order to build care and connection in troubled times?
🌍📚 Teaching Sustainability through Roald Dahl Stories
Roald Dahl’s much-loved books don’t just spark imagination — they also provide powerful entry points for exploring sustainability with learners of all ages. Each story is full of lessons that connect directly to how we treat our planet:
We are sharing ….
sustainability concepts in Roald Dahl’s stories linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 🍫
Fairness, food systems, waste
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Matilda 📚
Education, resource sharing, empowerment
SDG 4: Quality Education
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
James and the Giant Peach 🍑
Biodiversity, ecosystems, interdependence
SDG 15: Life on Land
SDG 14: Life Below Water
SDG 13: Climate Action
The BFG 👣
Needs vs. wants, sustainable consumption, ecological footprint
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy (if linked to using resources wisely)
Fantastic Mr Fox 🦊
Food security, land use, fairness, resourcefulness
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 15: Life on Land
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
The Twits 🐒
Pollution, waste, cruelty vs. kindness, regeneration
SDG 15: Life on Land
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
George’s Marvellous Medicine 🧪
Safe vs. unsafe chemicals, pollution, natural alternatives
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Together, these stories cover the “big ideas” of sustainability:
✨ Fairness & equity
✨ Consumption & waste
✨ Food systems & farming
✨ Biodiversity & ecosystems
✨ Education & empowerment
✨ Resourcefulness & creativity
✨ Chemical use & pollution
✨ Kindness & responsibility
Across Roald Dahl’s books, learners explore sustainability through storytelling while touching on at least 8 of the 17 SDGs — making them perfect for linking local classroom activities with global citizenship.
By combining storytelling with hands-on sustainability activities, we can help learners see how Dahl’s magical worlds connect directly to real-world challenges — and inspire them to imagine a fairer, greener future 🌍🌻💚
Find out more here 👉The Sustainables Academy
We invite you to join our LinkedIn Earthwatch Europe Educators community! 🏫👩🏫📖
We invite you to join our LinkedIn Earthwatch Europe Educators community! 🏫👩🏫📖
This group is a space for Teach Earth alumni, teachers, and informal educators connected with Earthwatch to share, learn, and collaborate. Our aim is to foster two-way communication and create an active community where ideas, experiences, and resources can flow freely.
Rules
Our tone:
Supportive & respectful – every member’s contribution is valued. 💚
Open & collaborative – we learn best when sharing experiences and listening to others. 🧑🤝🧑
Professional yet friendly – we want this to feel like a trusted network, not just another feed. 👩🏫
What we expect from members:
Engage and share – Comment on posts, ask questions, share your own experiences and ideas. 🤳
Stay relevant – Keep posts and discussions focused on education, environment, and opportunities connected to Earthwatch’s mission. 🌍
Be constructive – Feedback is welcome, especially on resources and opportunities, but keep it solution-focused. 💪
No promotion or spam – This group is about learning and collaboration, not advertising. 🚫
Respect confidentiality – If schools, colleagues, or learners are mentioned, please share responsibly and without sensitive personal details. 🦺
Together, we’ll make this group a place where alumni and educators can connect, exchange ideas, and support each other in bringing environmental education to life.
Click here to join 👉 Earthwatch Europe Educators | Groups | LinkedIn
Last chance to sign up for the Autumn Great UK Waterblitz and What's in your water? LIVE Lesson! 💧🌍🏞️
What's in your water? Live is an engaging, curriculum-linked live lesson for KS2 pupils that brings science and geography to life through real-world action. Developed by Earthwatch Europe, this interactive session immerses young learners in the world of fresh water, environmental threats, and the Great UK WaterBlitz a UK-wide citizen science project.
Aligned with national curriculum and timed to support World Monitoring Day (18 Sept) and Great UK WaterBlitz Week (19th–22 Sept) this session empowers pupils to become scientists for a day — and environmental champions for life.
Get your class involved in the autumn Great UK WaterBlitz - sign up here (sign up will shut on 7th Sept): Great UK WaterBlitz -Org signup - Earthwatch Europe
Find out more by clicking the link below 👇
World Literacy Day: Take Learning Outdoors! 🌍📚
The new term is almost here and what better way to kick things off than with World Literacy Day (Sept 8th)? Literacy isn’t just about books indoors… the outdoors is FULL of stories waiting to be told. 🌳🐦✍️
🌟 Why outdoors?
Being outside sparks curiosity, conversation, and imagination. A slug on a log, a bird call, a rustling tree are all perfect prompts for reading, writing, and storytelling.
Check out our idea of using Hello Mr World for a Role on the Wall activity. Kids describe what the planet (Mr World) thinks and feels—and add labels like carbon dioxide using phonics. This combination of storytelling, vocabulary-building, and empathy smashing makes literacy come alive.Earthwatch Education
Other resources:
Twinkl → fun outdoor literacy games (word hopscotch, nature riddles) 🏃♀️🌿 See ideas
HMH → ready-to-use Literacy Day activities for all ages ✨ Activities here
Learning Through Landscapes → sharing tips, lesson ideas, and guidance for literacy outdoors 📖 See website
📝 Quick ideas for Sept 8th
✨ Set up reading/writing “stations” under the trees
✨ Try outdoor word games (chalk, treasure hunts, rhymes)
✨ Do a “scientist for a day” activity—students log observations like researchers
✨ End with a story swap or poetry circle outside 🌞
World Literacy Day is the perfect excuse to get outside, read, write, wonder, and share stories together. 📚💚 Let’s make literacy this term something your students can feel, see, and experience—not just read about.
Applications open for fully funded Green Earth Schools Program! 🏫💚🌍
Applications are now open for your school to become a Green Earth School in academic year 25/26!
Transforming school grounds into nature-rich spaces for exceptional outdoor learning and play.
Through our Green Earth Schools programme, we collaborate with schools to create the optimal nature features for their grounds to support outdoor learning.
We help students build a strong connection to nature and use their voices to drive solutions-based approaches to environmental challenges. These skills and experiences are essential in creating inclusive pathways to the green careers that are needed to tackle the climate crisis.
Our Green Earth Schools approach is centred on:
Empowering students to create a quality green space in their school grounds that they can access and enjoy on a daily basis, and enabling them to take positive action for our planet.
Building a lasting green legacy as these living science labs will be maintained for future generations of pupils to enjoy.
Equipping teachers and educators with the tools they need to take learning outside, inspiring their children and young people to build curiosity of the natural world, create solutions-focused thinking and build a foundation of strong scientific knowledge of the environment.
This year, we are looking for schools in Sunderland, Peterborough, West Drayton, London, and South Wales (Cardiff, Swansea & Port Talbot) to sign up for our fully-funded Green Earth School Project this academic year!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our team at education@earthwatch.org.uk.
From Classroom to Impact: Empowering Inquiry and Action through Citizen Science 🌍🖊️👩🔬🔬
Bridging Classroom Learning with Real-World Research
Young learners often experience science as predictable or abstract—experiments with known outcomes and limited real-world relevance. This is where citizen science comes in: it transforms classrooms into gateways for authentic, meaningful research where students’ observations really count.
About the Course
Designed for educators across all levels—primary, secondary, teacher trainers, and beyond—this MOOC invites participants to:
Discover what citizen science is and why it matters for scientific literacy, societal impact, and student engagement.
Evaluate existing citizen science projects for classroom suitability.
Explore how these projects align with the European Union’s five Missions: climate, cancer, oceans, smart cities, and soil.
Design learning scenarios that harness the scientific inquiry process and connect students directly to meaningful data collection and real-world challenges.
Complete and submit their own Learning Scenario, and participate in peer review to earn a certificate (95% passing grade required).
Why It Matters for Earthwatch Educators?
Deepened Engagement: Citizen science turns students from passive learners into data-driven investigators.
Multidisciplinary Connection: Whether tracking biodiversity, monitoring air quality, or examining soil health, these activities spark cross-disciplinary exploration.
Global-Local Linkages: By aligning with EU Mission goals, you can help your students understand how local actions feed into global challenges.
Certification & Recognition: Besides the EUN certificate, participants in certain regions (e.g. Galicia, Emilia-Romagna, and Ireland) may be eligible for additional official CPD recognition.
Ready to Take Action?
If you're passionate about bringing real-world scientific inquiry into your classroom—empowering your students to make meaningful contributions—this MOOC offers structured support, community, and recognition. It’s a unique opportunity to help shape a more engaged, empowered generation of citizen scientists.
Let’s make it happen. Start your journey from classroom to impact!
Find out more here: Addressing societal challenges with Citizen Science | European Schoolnet Academy