National Association for Environmental Education (UK) Department of Education University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY naee.org.uk
NAEE Annual Report 2024
This report covers the work of NAEE from August 2023 to July 2024. It is a statement of key developments and issues faced and includes the 2023/24 income/expenditure statement as well as our auditor’s report. The version of this report that is approved at the 2024 AGM will be sent to the Charity Commission as our formal report for the year.
Policy developments relevant to environmental education: a brief overview
The Department for Education’s non-statutory Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy continues to be the main form of Government guidance available to schools in England. This includes the Natonal Educaton Nature Park that was launched in October 2023 with the invitation to educational establishments to register for resources and to put their grounds on a national habitat map. Although uptake is understandably limited at this stage, the ambition is clear with the claim that all education settings in the country could create a space twice the size of Birmingham for wildlife to thrive in and for children to learn about their environment.
Meanwhile, the Curriculum for Wales, which began implementation in 2022, became statutory for all pupils up to Year Nine. This organises the traditional disciplines into four core purposes and six Areas of Learning Experience (AoLE). With one core purpose being the development of ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world, there is a definite place for environmental education within this framework. This structure is not dissimilar to Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, which began a cycle of review this year. Also in Scotland, the recently updated GTCS Standards for Provisional Registraton include explicit reference to sustainability in a number of places.
The year ended in July 2024 with a moment of significant change as Labour won the general election. The new government wasted no time in announcing that there would be a review of the National Curriculum along with assessment practices in England to be chaired by Professor Becky Francis (this will no doubt become a focus for next year’s report). With the review promising ‘evolution not revolution’, it is unlikely that there will be such a radical rethink in England s there has been in Scotland and Wales.
Internationally, at COP28 in Dubai, the youth constituency (YOUNGO) issued a statement that echoed the main concerns of the UN climate change process although it did include one bullet point calling for all children to have access to ‘high quality education’ that should include ‘climate change education that incorporates the best available science and principles of climate justice.’
Financial position
The financial statement for 2023/24 saw a decrease in income as one-off donations received previously were not repeated. Expenditure, on the other hand, increased as the organisation had committed to a number of collaborative projects using its accumulated funds.
| 2022/23 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income | Expenditure | Income | Expenditure |
| £17,085.70 | £14,919.43 | £12,341.03 | £21,234.97 |
While these projects pay dividends in terms of our charitable objectives, we cannot continue to fund such work without first identifying additional sources of income to support them.
92% of expenditure went directly on the main ways we deliver our charitable objectives: bursaries, publications, networking, communications, and the website.
As always, we must note that this does not include the considerable and incalculable, in-kind contribution from members and volunteers to the operation of the Association for which we give our heartfelt thanks.
Fuller details of the Association’s audited accounts are available in our annual return to the Charity Commission which can be found on the Charity Commission’s website.
Funded projects
This year has been unusual in that the association has been able to support a number of project developments with partners. These are:
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Leicester Learn (with Leicester City Council)
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Supernature: Growing gardens and communities (with the Warden Bay Resident’s Association)
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Zero Carbon Taster Sessions (with the Green Schools Project)
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Ofsted-style Research Project (with authors from the University of Oxford)
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New funded projects were set up with the Green Schools Project (Zero Carbon Schools Taster Sessions)
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Arts, education and the environment (The Big Brum Theatre Company).
Trustee changes
In 2023 we said a farewell to Bill Scott who ably chaired the association for six years. At the 2023 AGM, Paul Vare was confirmed as the new NAEE Chair. We also welcomed three new trustees, Andrea Gabriel (Education and Learning Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful), Lee Jowett (a former NAEE Fellow and now Climate Change and Sustainability Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University) and Quinn Runkle (Director of Education, SOS-UK).
The Board held five meetings in 2023/24 comprising one face-to-face meeting in London, three online meetings via Zoom and one email exchange in which the change in Chair was agreed.
Engagement with schools and young people
The Kenrick bursary programme continues to attract an increasingly high number and standard of applications from teachers in the West Midlands. The level of environmental awareness of some teachers and their knowledge of the current issues facing pupils and families in their catchment area is becoming more evident. The total grant project money for 2023/24 was £6,406.
Over the twelve years that the scheme has been in operation 138 different schools have been awarded a grant (total value £56,670) to support their visits to one of four environmental education centres. All these centres offer environmental education experiences led by an experienced educator employed by the centre.
Communications
The weekly newsletter, prepared by former Chair of Trustees, Bill Scott, and delivered to members by email continued to be a source of information for members throughout the year. As Bill announces his retirement from the role, we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks for his tireless work on behalf of the association.
In this year we also published two volumes of our journal, Environmental Education , which has been published continuously since 1971:
Vol 133 (Autumn 2023) entitled ‘Teaching the Future’ was guest edited the youth-led organisation Teach the Future and, as such, a first in the history of the journal
Vol 134 (Spring 2024) entitled ‘Small Wonders’ focuses on invertebrates.
Income Expenditure Statement 2023/2024
Income
| M & G Dividends Membership Donations Royalties Interest Consultancy Total Income Expenditure Kenrick School Bursaries Payments Kenrick School Bursary Support Professional Office Support Journal Editing Fees Journal Printing Journal Distribution by Post Microsoft Business Standard Subs Consultancy/Speaker Fees Website Management Fee Website Hosting by eUKHost Travel Expenses & Subsistence Insurance Room Hire Stationery & Postage Audit Fee Information Commissioner's Office Fee Trustee Board Costs PayPal Transaction Fees Advertising /Publicity Development Project Spending DropBox Costs Zoom Costs Company Tax return Bank Charges Total Expenditure Balance B/F from 22/23 Plus Income Less Expenditure Balance C/F |
£ 9103.76 1474.83 1094.97 190.08 477.39 0.00 12341.03 |
|
|---|---|---|
| 6206.00 366.00 2200.00 860.00 811.20 277.04 36.00 200.00 233.86 92.67 0.00 248.87 0.00 13.50 80.00 35.00 396.90 24.46 0.00 8264.71 362.88 143.88 360.00 22.00 21234.97 |
||
| 38208.22 12341.03 50549.25 21234.97 29314.28 |
Bank reconciliation 1.08.24
| Current Account Trust Account Investment Account Old Current Account PayPal Less unpresented cheques Payment to Tamarack Consultancy Services School Bursary Payments 2023 -2024 - L19 School Bursary Payments 2022-2023 Difference |
5111.83 2457.70 26629.36 777.80 793.59 35770.28 3800.00 000228 2256.00 400.00 000101 6456.00 29314.28 0.00 |
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|---|---|---|
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