At this time of climate emergency, the commitment to the introduction of the GCSE in Natural History unsurprisingly caught many of the headlines. It was however the result of several years of work and involved some searching questions along the way.
Would a specialist GCSE risk the ecology and environmental science content that current sits in other subjects? Is such a GCSE a tacit admission that learning about the environment is somehow a niche subject, rather than mainstream? Just how accessible would it be in such a crowded curriculum? We are certainly not blind to the challenges of its implementation but applaud the intent.
I want to explore why, despite these questions, I believe that a GCSE in Natural History is so timely and, rather than being a throwback to a time of Ladybird Book nostalgia, it is a subject that is right up to date with its offer of knowledge and skills.
What to expect?