Working with the media on climate change in schools

New data shows that school classroom temperatures topped 30C during a recent UK heatwave, causing havoc to lessons and leaving pupils and teachers sick. Campaign Salience has been working with the media to put this issue on the agenda

Classroom temperatures are running worryingly high as climate change impacts

We are currently working with the climate change charity Round Our Way  on media stories that humanize climate change and its impacts on people in the UK.

Too often, climate issues can seem distant and abstract. Some seek to inject culture war elements into the debate, pitting concerns like the cost of living against climate action to frustrate policy progress. It's also true that climate advocacy can sometimes feel elitist and detached.

Those of us who advocate for climate action are occasionally guilty of playing into the hands of culture warriors who love to push the idea of an elite climate conspiracy aimed at destroying the way "ordinary people" want to live their lives.

Our climate change communications philosophy – in old-school tabloid newspaper parlance – is to "put a face" on the issue. We aim to tell human interest stories about the effects climate change is already having on real lives. Our goal is to help climate change stories break out from their stronghold in the earnest pages of broadsheets and the BBC, into the wider consumer landscape of tabloid news.

We were pleased to land more than 50 stories last week about the effects of climate change in UK classrooms.

"It ain't half hot mum"

Round Our Way collaborated with teachers from the NEU to monitor heat in classrooms, with temperatures as high as 30 degrees Celsius recorded in some schools.

The effects on teachers and pupils, their learning, and their health are concerning: fainting, sickness, and lethargy were noted by many teachers. None of this is conducive to good health, let alone effective learning.

As Roger Harding, Director of Round Our Way, said:

“This data reveals the worryingly hot temperatures our children are starting to face in the classroom thanks to climate change. This has been a mild summer by recent standards, so it is scary to picture how bad this will get when temperatures well above 30°C return.

"The weather used to just be small talk but we now need our political leaders to ensure the country is better prepared for more extreme weather and tackle the fossil fuel pollution that is causing it in the first place.” 

This is just one example of how climate change is affecting ordinary people's lives now. 

We were really happy to see the analysis picked up in more than 50 outlets, including the Daily Telegraph, Sky News, the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Independent and swath of local newspapers too