SARACENS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER RECEIVES UN CLIMATE CHANGE ACCREDITATION

Saracens High School teacher Helen Morphitis is one of the first teachers in London to be a UN accredited Climate Change Teacher.

Helen can now deliver up to date climate change lessons to all pupils at Saracens High School and plans to share Best Practice in an inset day in September with all teaching staff, so that they too can take part in this new innovative programme being trialled in UK Schools.

Helen Morphitis, Curriculum Lead for Humanities, Saracens High School, says, “It has been an amazing opportunity to increase my subject knowledge on such a vital topic. Climate change has been an important topic within Geography for a long time, however now we can’t leave the teaching of it to one subject area.

The climate change emergency is going to impact on the lives of the pupils we teach, more than my generation. Therefore, I feel a moral imperative to provide them with the facts and agency to make changes before it is too late.”

The Principal of Saracens High School, Matt Stevens, said “We were very proud to hear that Helen has become one of the first teachers to achieve this accreditation. This important work will raise the profile of climate change for young people, making them more aware of the impact they and their families can have on the environment, as well as motivating some to help develop solutions.”

The innovative UN Climate Change Teacher Academy was launched on April 22 and is free for all primary and secondary school teachers. The online training for teachers in primary and secondary schools has been designed to equip educators with the knowledge and confidence to deliver lessons on the topic of climate change to their class and across the school curriculum. Accredited teachers will be able to encourage and generate social innovation, and prepare today’s youth to protect the planet.