New 'eco-nurseries' resources launched

The pack, which was launched on the Eco Schools website last week, contains a poster, nine themed cards with activities such as biodiversity, energy and global citizenship, a glossary, and links to the EYFS.

A separate leadership pack contains tools for self-assessment and templates for policies and tools for reaching Education for Sustainable Development goals such as a self-assessment matrix.

Education for Sustainable Development is an umbrella term from UNESCO for many forms of education that promote a sustainable world.

The brainchild of Diane Boyd and other early years staff at Liverpool John Moores University, the pack could be developed into an early years framework for sustainability in future.

Diane Boyd, Senior Lecturer in Early Years, said, ‘Practitioners are not aware of how to be sustainable, or they do sustainable things but are not aware they are doing it. This pack comes from thinking about practical activities that settings can do – the practice as well as theory- and setting them out in a clear way.’

Early years practitioners and green organisations such as Eco Schools and Keep Britain Tidy have also fed into the project.

The activities, which are aimed at babies upwards, are currently being trialled by five schools, but other settings can feed back via reflection sheets included in the packs or emailing Ms Boyd directly. The final versions will be launched in September 2017.

The packs can be accessed here. Settings must register for free to access. Feedback can be emailed to D.J.Boyd@ljmu.ac.uk