Your students are learning about climate change in geography. They’re discussing renewable energy in science. Maybe they’re part of an eco-council, or they’ve just completed a unit on biodiversity loss. The learning is happening, and your schools is working hard to make sure it’s relevant. But what happens when they go home? How can we get parent engagement with our climate education?

I’ve talked about how you can communicate your school’s strategy to parents – but it’s different with the learning. Because what happens when a Year 7 student gets home and announces that the family car is destroying the planet? Or when a primary pupil refuses to eat anything that isn’t locally sourced? Or when homework involves calculating the household carbon footprint and a child discovers their family is – in their words – “ruining everything”?

This is the tension that we are finding at the heart of climate education: we want students to learn, to care, to act. But we also need parents on side. Parent engagement in climate education is crucial.

And right now, many schools aren’t sure how to bridge that gap.

The parent engagement and climate education paradox

Here’s what we know: over 80% of parents believe climate change should be taught in schools. Parents want their children to understand the world they’re inheriting. But they can struggle with action themselves.

Shools worry about pushback, with climate change education, they worry about complaints or about being accused of indoctrination or creating anxiety.

Most parents aren’t opposed to climate education – they’re just unsure how to respond to it. They might feel guilty about their own choices. They might worry about their child’s mental health. They might simply not know enough themselves to feel confident having these conversations.

And that’s actually an opportunity, not a problem.

What the research tells us about parent engagement

There’s compelling evidence that when students take climate learning home, it creates ripple effects throughout households.

Studies from the US, Greece, and the UK show that children interviewing parents about energy use, developing family action plans, or simply discussing what they’ve learned at school can shift parental attitudes and behaviours. The University of Bristol’s PolicyBristol research highlights how these student-led family conversations work particularly well when they’re framed as collaborative activities rather than children “teaching” parents.

Think about it: a family energy audit done together feels very different to a child lecturing their parents about leaving lights on.

The key is creating homework and home-school links that invite parents in, rather than making them feel judged or excluded. When a Year 5 class tracks household waste together as a family challenge, with results celebrated in assembly, parents become partners in learning. When a secondary science project involves interviewing grandparents about how energy use has changed over their lifetime, it becomes intergenerational storytelling.

This matters because family engagement amplifies what schools are doing. Climate action plans and sustainability leads are important, but they’ll only go so far if the messages students hear at school contradict what they experience at home.

How to communicate climate education to parents

This is where many schools stumble. Because how you talk about climate education matters just as much as what you’re teaching.

Climate Outreach worked with parent groups including Parents for Future UK and Mothers Rise Up to understand what resonates with different families. What they found was fascinating: there’s no one-size-fits-all message.

Some parents connect deeply with narratives about protecting their children’s future. Others respond to themes of intergenerational togetherness or leaving a positive legacy. Some are motivated by practical concerns – energy bills, health, local air quality. Others are drawn to the idea of their children being empowered to make a difference.

What doesn’t work? Shame. Creating guilt. Overwhelming families with doom and gloom.

Start by being transparent in newsletters and at parents’ evenings about what you’re teaching and why. Frame climate action as something families can do together, not as a burden. Highlight local, tangible changes rather than abstract global problems. Celebrate small wins. Use community wins.

For example, instead of: “We’re teaching your children about the climate crisis because the planet is in danger”

Try: “This term in geography, Year 8 are exploring how communities around the world are adapting to environmental change. We’d love families to share their own experiences of local weather changes or conservation projects. If you have stories to share, please do get in touch.”

Making it practical: from classroom to kitchen table

So what does all of this actually look like in practice?

Here are some approaches that schools are using successfully:

• Simple challenges sent home – a “walk to school week”, a “plastic-free lunch challenge”, a “switch it off fortnight” where families compete (gently!) to reduce energy use. These work because they’re time-limited, achievable, and often fun.
• Family workshops – invite parents in for evening sessions on topics like reducing energy bills, sustainable food choices, or understanding renewable energy. Make them practical and empowering, not preachy. UNICEF’s climate action for families resources are a good starting point for ideas.
• Celebrate household achievements – if a family has installed solar panels, switched to an electric car, started composting, or simply committed to walking to school more often, celebrate it in assembly or newsletters. This normalises climate action and shows it’s achievable.
• Signpost resources – many parents want to do more but don’t know where to start. Point them towards local initiatives, community energy projects, or parent climate groups. Parents for Future UK has 35 local groups across the country.

The Department for Education’s updated climate and sustainability strategy asks schools to have climate action plans in place. Parent engagement should be a key pillar of those plans.

The pitfalls to avoid

We’ve seen schools get this wrong – they’re so passionate about climate action that they forget families are navigating very different circumstances.

• Don’t assume all families have the same resources. Not every family can afford an electric car, solar panels, or organic food. If your climate education inadvertently shames families for financial constraints, you’ve lost them.
• Don’t ignore cultural differences. Different communities have different relationships with food, travel, and consumption. Listen more than you prescribe.
• Don’t create anxiety without offering agency. Research from SOS-UK shows that young people need hope and practical action, not just scary statistics. The same is true for parents.
• Don’t make it feel like one more impossible thing. Parents are already juggling work, caring responsibilities, financial pressures, and everything schools ask of them. Climate action needs to feel like something that fits into family life, not something that adds to the burden.

Celebrate your achieveements, and acknowledge that it is a challenge we are tackling together.

Building a community of climate action

Here’s what I keep coming back to: successful parent engagement isn’t about schools telling families what to do.

It’s about schools creating spaces where families feel safe to ask questions, share concerns, and take action together.

It’s about recognising that parents are navigating their own climate anxiety, their own financial pressures, their own uncertainty about the future.

And it’s about positioning the school as a partner in that journey, not a judge.

When a school can explain what they’re teaching, why it matters, and how families can be involved without feeling overwhelmed or criticised it makes a huge difference. Because this is what we know: children take climate education far more seriously when they see it modelled at home. When a family has a conversation about food waste at dinner, or chooses to cycle instead of drive, or switches to renewable energy, it reinforces what’s being taught at school.

Climate education doesn’t stop at the school gates. It shouldn’t. Families and communities working together can have a huge impact. Let me know what’s worked for you!

Further reading and resources:

• Madden et al. (2025) “Parents’ Perspectives on Climate Change Education”
• University of Bristol PolicyBristol: Climate Change Education research
• Climate Outreach: Parents for Future UK case study
• UNICEF Parenting: Climate action for families
• DfE: Everything we are doing in education to tackle climate change
• SOS-UK: Talking to young people about climate change
• Climate Outreach: Talking Climate Handbook

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