News and Updates

I heard the other day of a school Headteacher who was still claiming to have green flag status even though the award was beyond the time limit, and had not been renewed.  His reasoning was that as his school had had...

Ofsted has announced that under its new common inspection framework, inspectors will, from September, make judgements about the personal development, behaviour and welfare of leaners. They will look at the extent to which institutions are successful at supporting pupils to gain...

The other week saw the 25th anniversary of the appointment of Dr Gary Mantle as director of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.  As a trustee, I was particularly pleased to note this, as I know how much Gary has contributed to the...

I wrote last week about the draft sustainable development goals.  Goal 1 is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere.  The associated targets are these: 1.1 by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living...

In a recent article for the Guardian, the leader of the UK's parliamentary opposition, Ed Milliband, wrote this: "As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said, if the world is to hold warming below 2C, global emissions need to peak...

I've written before about attempts to shoe-horn a focus on sustainability into the UK's influential National Student Survey [NSS] question set, and I've usually been rather dismissive of any likelihood of this coming to pass.  Well, it seems I was right,...

I watched the latest session from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee [EAC] (25 February) on Parliament TV.  It was a poorly-attended event, with almost as many witnesses as MPs.  Those speaking were: National Union of Students – Jamie Agombar...

Bristol is Europe's Green Capital for 2015, but you have to wonder how this came about as its sustainability credentials seem pitifully few.  In the BBC's most recent Costing the Earth, Tom Heap explored these issues.  Clearly, the award was granted as much on future...

HEFCE announced on Wednesday that its Deputy CEO, Steve Egan, is leaving and will be taking up a new post at Bath as Vice President (Implementation).  I'd say that's ... Bath 10 – 0 HEFCE Eat your hearts out all...

As you know, the UN is planning to replace the Millennium Development Goals with 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  One of these (Goal 4) relates to education and learning.  Stephen Sterling has contributed to a recent report critiquing the goals, and he...