Top Five Resources 2022

This pack, developed by Daydream Believers, has all the elements that get us really excited by a teaching resource. It has eye-catching design and a fresh, exciting approach to education. Here, KS4 students are taught to develop their creativity and to apply this to solving problems in the world around them. The result is a great combination of encouraging personal growth through bravery at the same time as helping students to develop and pitch practical, innovative ideas. Both empowering and inspiring, this pack is a great example of how we can foster greater independence and confidence through teaching.

Framing challenging issues in a hopeful, positive way is at the heart of Global Dimension and our parent charity Reboot the Future. This is exactly what Groundwork does with their Culture Club resource which takes the weighty topic of refugees and approaches it via a host of fun, informative activities. Learning about refugees is about humanising them whilst developing empathy and appreciation for the cultural richness they have contributed to civil society. Through oral storytelling, weaving, mosaic design, tasting, cooking and more students are encouraged to explore the culture of various refugee communities. Here, students get to develop their cultural sensitivity and cultural knowledge all whilst learning how to create a welcoming environment for refugees.

The InterClimate Network produced this timely and hugely popular resource on COP26 in time for the 26th Conference of the Parties which was held in Glasgow last November. It cleverly brings the conference to life in the classroom with student teams being asked to represent and research different countries at COP. Each team must present and debate their country pledges and climate challenges with all teams ultimately being tasked with improving global climate targets. With students studying the key aspects of the climate crisis, the functions of the UN and learning to empathise with different countries' situations, this offers a fantastic, multi-layered learning experience.

Developed by the British Red Cross, this beautifully presented, fun and varied resource is great for reinforcing caring values both inside and outside school. Made to be used around December, this ‘kindness calendar’ encourages children to perform at least one act of kindness a day. Complete with a cut-out calendar and supporting activities, primary students are taught the value of kind acts and given ideas about what nice things they can do for others. December has become a time of year associated with superficial gift-giving and so it’s great to see a resource that seeks to balance this out by focusing students' minds on what really matters. With mental health challenges being particularly hard around winter and the festive season, this resource also offers a wonderful way to foster a supportive, joyous environment in your school.

This inspiring resource by Young Climate Warriors works as a really useful introduction to climate change for Primary Schools and years 7 and 8 of Secondary schools. We love the attention to detail here with 10 sessions on the key issues around climate change - from its physical effects to how we solve it. This kind of resource is exactly what we aim for on Global Dimension, a complete, ready-to-go pack that saves teachers lots of time and energy. The lessons provided are filled with discussion topics, supporting material and useful facts. For empowering students to learn about and take action on climate change, this is all you could want and more.