Last year the National Memorial Arboretum welcomed 296 learning visits, offering 12,750 students the opportunity to explore the 150-acres of memorials, gardens, and woodlands, helping young people to discover incredible stories of service and sacrifice. From interactive Explorer Days, to tailored tours of our grounds or participation in an Act of Remembrance, the inspiring landscape at the National Memorial Arboretum and multi-functional classroom spaces is a perfect setting for workshops and activities for students in Key Stages 2-4.

“Our specialist on-site learning team has developed a wide range of cross-curricular activities for learning groups to discover inspirational stories about the people who have served the Nation, each with specific learning outcomes,” explains Rachel Smith, Head of Learning and Participation at the Arboretum. “We offer students activities and workshops that use our 150-acre site, rich natural landscape, breathtaking memorials, and multi-functional classroom spaces to develop an understanding of Remembrance and explore other subjects including science, literacy, and geography. The Arboretum really is a truly inspirational place to visit with your class.”

Free activity days taking place at the Arboretum this academic year include:

• National Poetry Day, 5 October 2023 (KS3-4) – working with the Arboretum’s poet in residence, students will draw upon inspiration from the Arboretum as well as the year’s chosen theme of ‘Refuge’ to create their own poetry masterpiece
• RAF STEAM takeover day, 17 October 2023 (upper KS2) – the Royal Air Force youth engagement team returns to the Arboretum with three different STEAM activities
• Black History Month activity day, 19 October 2023 (KS3-4) – students can take part in a selection of participatory activities exploring the Arboretum’s new exhibitions, exploring inter-generational stories and experiences through textiles and audio
• Remembrance activity week, 6-10 November 2023 (KS2) – giving students the opportunity to reflect on those who have served their country through arts-based workshops at the Arboretum and in schools
• Holocaust Memorial Day activity day, 26 January 2024 (Upper KS2) – students take part in workshops to learn more about the Holocaust, visit memorials and explore the importance of Remembrance
• World Book Day, 7 March 2024 (reception and lower KS1) – using Julia Donaldson’s ‘Stick Man’ as inspiration, younger students can explore the Stick Man trail around the Arboretum grounds and use natural materials to make their own stick characters
• International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024 (Years 6 and 7) – Students learn about some remarkable women by delving into the stories behind the memorials. Hands-on workshops and engaging discussions explore the attributes and aptitudes that defined these women and enabled them to identify their own skills and qualities.
• Earth Day, 22 April 2024 (KS2) – students discover the importance of protecting the natural world, create seedballs and bug hotels to increase biodiversity on their own green spaces
• Teaching Remembrance days, 2-3 July 2024 (KS2&3) – Together with the Royal British Legion, students will take part in a series of interactive indoor and outdoor activities before ending the day with a collective Act of Remembrance.

The Arboretum’s school’s activity days are free. There is a cost for other facilitated activities with the learning team and bursaries are available to help with transport costs, thanks to the Arboretum’s involvement in ‘The Great British School Trip’ initiative.

To book a school trip call, teachers can call 01283 245133 or email education@thenma.org.uk.

For more information about the school activity days, visit https://www.thenma.org.uk/visit-us/plan-your-visit/visiting-for-learning-and-training/learning-activity-days

The research, which aims to examine the lack of female representation and voice in English Literature, found that An Inspector Calls and A Christmas Carol were the two most taught texts, which were studied at 80% and 72% respectively at GCSE level (Year 10 & 11). Both of which are in the top texts taught at KS3 meaning that many pupils are taught the same texts twice between Years 7 and 11. Data was collected from three out of four awarding bodies; Pearson Edexcel, the second largest awarding body, who stated they could not provide us with an analysis of their statistics by the gender of the author.

Within these texts the female characters are either victims or servants, which leaves little to offer in terms of representation of women. While these can lead to important discussions it would be more valuable to students to also have discussions around positive representations of women. Only ever having the opportunity to discuss women as victims of misogyny perpetuates a narrative of women as victims of a patriarchal society, reinforcing the notion of sexual inequality as an expected norm.

Of the female authored books on the approved text list, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice were the most common inclusions, however both are the longest novels on the lists, 624 and 448 pages respectively. This makes it harder for teachers to justify their selection over the shorter male authored texts. The result is that female authored texts are not equally matched in terms of teachability and accessibility to the male authored choices, immediately putting them at a disadvantage.

While authorship is of importance there is also a large discrepancy between the number of female protagonists compared to that of male, and after all, it is the characters and not the authors that pupils will spend most time discussing in lessons. On the set lists 7 in 10 texts for both 19th Century novel and for Modern Prose and Drama have a male protagonist, showing a bias towards the teaching of texts with a male protagonist.

By only providing the option for pupils to engage with male perspectives on the world in the literature they read, not only do boys never learn to empathise with and appreciate the viewpoints and experiences of women, but they also get the clear message that women’s voices and perspectives are less important and less valid.

While work in recent years has been done to increase diversity, often this is implemented with a two birds one stone approach with new additions added to the approved text list by female authors of colour. While this is a great first step, it often involves swapping out less studied texts for new novels meaning few schools will be inclined to change the status quo. The message is clear; the supremacy of white male writing cannot be challenged. The core canon of white male authors is not being changed, and by combining gender and race, it disproportionately affects the representation of white female authors and male authors of colour, who have been all but erased from the modern prose and drama paper.

Rachel Fenn, Founding Member of ESIS & English teacher comments: “While these stats are shocking, they are hardly surprising. The traditional canon of English Literature has always valued the white male voice over others since its creation in the early twentieth century. However, for the next generation to grow up challenging a patriarchal view of the world, both boys and girls need to be exposed to strong and empowering representations of women, not the voiceless victims and servants we see repeatedly in the perennially popular texts taught in English lessons. We are what we read – is it any wonder how Andrew Tate has managed to infiltrate the schooling system and violence against women remains such an endemic problem in our society when our academic curriculum spins this narrative in every lesson?

While improving PSHE offered in schools is a step in the right direction to improve equality and address sexism, it fails to tackle the underlying systems which perpetuate the ideology that women are less than and their voices are not worth being heard. This is why ESIS is striving so hard to push examining bodies to ensure an equal balance of male and female authored texts and protagonists, and provide schools with meaningful practical support to help them change the texts they teach. We’ve had enough of virtue signalling and platitudes; we want action, and we want it now.’

You can read the research in full and explore ways to get involved on the End Sexism In Schools website: https://endsexisminschools.org.uk/

The presentations, features and experiences are specifically tailored for Key Stages 2 (upper), 3 & 4, giving students a unique opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom and bring the world of STEM to life.  The show will connect students with leading-edge researchers and give them the knowledge to engage with the scientific, social and ethical challenges that will shape the world of the future.

Highlights include:

• World-class science presenter Stefan Gates whose presentation will be packed with explosions and will explore combustion, pressure, sound, elasticity, energy storage, pressure and sound. Expect mini-motorbikes, massive balloons, fireballs and flame throwing on the Universe Stage!
• Filmmaker Simon Clark on the Mind & Body Stage discussing how he became a YouTube scientist starting from his A level choices to submitting his PhD thesis, as well as the lessons he learned along the way
• Palaeontologist David Hone featuring on the Planet Stage and discussing why the Tyrannosaurs rex is the most dangerous terrestrial predator of all time.
• Tech wiz Rob Sedgebeer and Steve McNeil who will be presenting an interactive history of some of the earliest advances in videogames so make sure you bring a charged smartphone to play along on the Future Stage
• J Spooner on the Engage Stage with a special guest in the space shed for interactive, intergalactic, mind-blowing fun!

Students can immerse themselves in the latest tech developments, from surgical robots to augmented reality, Artificial Intelligence to VR, and see how the latest medical innovations are being used by world-class clinicians to improve diagnosis and treatment. One feature not to be missed is the immersive pop-up planetarium where you can see what it takes to become an astronaut and let the inspiration take you to new places that you could never have imagined.

With VR rollercoaster rides to piloting a virtual drone, seeing inside an artificial star to smelling space, New Scientist Live features an unbelievable experience for everyone.

A proportion of the Schools’ Day tickets will be made available for free to schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged students and schools with lower science capital ensuring that science is accessible to the widest possible audience and to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and leaders.

For the full Schools’ Day programme visit https://newscientist.com/schoolstalks

The acquisition of DoodleLearning supports Discovery Education’s mission to prepare learners for tomorrow by creating innovative classrooms connected to today’s world. DoodleLearning complements Discovery Education’s other award-winning digital services, which include Discovery Education’s K-12 platform, Mystery Science, STEM Connect, the Math, Science, and Social Studies Techbooks, Espresso, Coding and Health and Relationships.

“Discovery Education is dedicated to creating a best-in-class edtech ecosystem that supports our mission to prepare today’s students for future success,” said Discovery Education Chief Executive Officer Scott Kinney. “This acquisition is an important milestone in that effort, and we look forward to both partnering with the talented DoodleLearning team and scaling the reach of their innovative, adaptive maths and English products.”

Prior to founding DoodleLearning, Chief Executive Officer Nicola Chilman and Chief Operating Officer Tom Minor taught maths. In 2011, after experiencing first hand technology’s ability to accelerate student learning, Chilman and Minor created an app combining high-quality digital content and educational supports that encouraged children to learn in an engaging and personal way.

Today, DoodleLearning offers four products supporting instruction in maths and English for ages 4-14 that have been used by over one million children in the U.K. and around the world. As part of the Discovery Education family of services, DoodleLearning will continue to apply its educational ability to building and deploying affordable learning solutions for students worldwide.

“The entire DoodleLearning team is excited to join Discovery Education’s efforts to build and scale a powerful edtech ecosystem of digital resources serving teachers and learners worldwide,” said Nicola Chilman, DoodleLearning Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. “Our team will naturally fit into Discovery Education’s mission-driven culture, and we look forward to working with our new colleagues on our joint mission to prepare today’s students for future success.”

“DoodleLearning is excited to join the Discovery Education team,” said Tom Minor, Chief Operating Officer, and Co-Founder of DoodleLearning. “The company has laid out exciting plans to increase the number of instructional minutes it supports each day, and DoodleLearning is poised to play a significant role in this effort.”

DoodleLearning is Discovery Education’s latest acquisition. In October 2020, Discovery Education acquired Mystery Science and in July 2020, Discovery Education purchased Spiral. In August of 2019, Discovery Education announced the acquisition of Inspyro.

For more information about Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.co.uk, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Twitter and LinkedIn.

The unique poetry and nature resource pack is available nationally, yet also forms part of the Young Poets project from the National Literacy Trust, which aims to improve pupils’ enjoyment of writing, their motivation to write and their attitudes to poetry. It also encompasses the RSPB Wild Challenge, an award scheme encapsulating a suite of specially-developed activities to support schools to engage children with nature and provide practical learning opportunities.

The creative activities developed by the National Literacy Trust and the RSPB will support and guide teachers to inspire their pupils to write and perform poetry through outdoor exploration of nature.  The resource includes a series of lesson plans, encouraging students to be inquisitive about the natural world and provide them with meaningful experiences of the outdoors, whilst also meeting national curriculum requirements for writing.

This resource has been written with school grounds in mind, and the poetry-based lesson plans created by the National Literacy Trust enable pupils to draw on their sensory experiences to describe nature’s beauty, empathise with wildlife to write and perform poetry. These activities build on the five pathways to nature connection – senses, emotion, beauty, meaning and compassion – and promote creativity and literacy skills through a poetic use of language.

Sean Cumming, Young Writers Project Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We are delighted to offer our new poetry and nature resource to schools, created in collaboration with the RSPB. Engaging students in poetry helps to promote enjoyment of writing, inspiring feelings of creativity and provides an outlet for self-expression. As poets and writers have always looked to nature as a source of inspiration, we are confident that the focus on nature in the resource pack and the opportunities it provides for classes to explore the outdoors will deepen students’ knowledge and appreciation of nature and improve mental wellbeing.”

Suzanne Welch, RSPB UK Education & Families Manager, said: “We are very proud to be working with the National Literacy Trust on this inspirational resource. It is exciting to be part of something that joins creativity and the environment together in a powerful way. Using nature as stimulation for writing allows children to reflect on what they experience in nature so they can hold on to those moments and use them as inspiration and establish strong connections to wildlife and community. We hope that teachers and children across the country enjoy these activities and explore the great outdoors with all their new skills!”

To access the resources, please visit: https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/writing-from-nature-a-poetry-resource/

Ahead of last week’s launch in Paisley of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK ( the free

Can you firstly tell us a bit more about About Us and the event itself?

It’s one of the 10 UNBOXED projects, a celebration of STEAM and of creativity across the UK. We’re bringing poetry and STEM together and showing how they complement each other. It just takes a bit of imagination (and some fantastic technical know-how) to bring these different disciplines together.

In its simplest terms it’s a light show, part of a collaboration between Stemettes, 59 Productions (who create productions like this), and The Poetry Society, who work on poetry and the promotion of poetry. It aims to engage with young people, and engage them with STEM and STEAM. The light show takes you on a 30 million year journey from The Big Bang to us here in Paisley, looking at civilization, what happens with cells and early human life and how we’ve ended up here, looking up at Paisley Abbey and how we all are connected to the universe. Technically we’re all made of star stuff, so that that’s what the whole event is about, it’s a celebration of Paisley and its place in the universe.

We’ve done a lot of work in the community and in local schools in the last couple of months, working through poetry workshops, working through STEM and coding workshops, and so what the children have created is a big part of the light show as well. We’re hearing their poetry and seeing it, we’re seeing the avatars that they’ve created in elements of their animations.

Awe was the key word that we had in mind when we were pulling this together, so that’s in essence what the show is about – awe and bright lights and a celebration of Paisley.

Can you elaborate on the STEAM acronym for those maybe unfamiliar with it?

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts (and design), and maths – it represents a combination of all those disciplines. You can’t do STEM without art and design, without that creativity and expression. If you look at something like product design, it’s easy to see that the most impactful have that appreciation for the arts. All of them have leant into some of the skill sets that we have in the arts. Indeed, you’re much more likely to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences if you’ve engaged with the arts during your upbringing, which runs counter to the image people maybe have of scientists, that the best scientists have only ever done science and only ever do science. In fact, being able to recognise those softer artistic skill sets, combine them through collaboration and communication, that’s really where we solve problems properly.

So that’s the heart of STEAM and of course this About Us project and the whole of the UNBOXED Learning Programme.

Has asking schools to combine very different disciplines like this been a challenge?

When the proposition is explained clearly, and the benefits of this sort of cross-curricular work are articulated in a way that makes sense for schools, then we find buy-in comes pretty quickly. The resources that we’ve put together as part of this allow teachers to see for themselves how it can work in the classroom and benefit their pupils. Obviously, schools have been through a really tough time during the pandemic, and we’re now approaching exam season and all the stresses and demands that come with that, but fundamentally we’re aiming to build something here for the longer term and we really do hope, through the excitement of events like the light show, that we will inspire the younger generation to take their first steps on this great journey.

You are very passionate about this, where does your inspiration come from?

Creativity inspires me, curiosity about how things work and how the things we build create a legacy long after we’re gone. I took a VCR apart when I was younger, trying to understand how the cassette went into the machine, how the mechanism played the tape – basically breaking things down to understand how they fit together and how, once you understand that, you can solve problems with the knowledge you’ve gained.

Of course, once you talk about solving problems, then you can start working for the greater good – and that inspires me as well, the idea that things don’t always have to be harder, faster, stronger, bigger or whatever as an end in itself, rather that those attributes are really just a means to an end, and that the goal is using all of the resources at our disposal to make life better for all of us.

I’d also like to see us drawing on a much more diverse pool of talent than we do currently, and I’m inspired to realise that goal, because the more diverse the pool, the more diverse the voices we hear and the better the things we create will be.

How do you show children that STEAM is fun and not just “boring” technology?

Children like to play. If you give them the right environment to play and to create, who doesn’t want to express themselves?

Recently we were running a hack on Healthcare and getting young children to build apps. They loved it – I’m thinking of two little girls who spent the weekend building a house app because they had included talking fruit in their app and to them it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever seen. It’s one of those things where you don’t have to force them because they’ve made something, they’ve explored, they’ve played with the technology.

A couple of years ago we did a big data hack using Twitter and it was so interesting to see what interested the young people we had at the hack. One of them was obsessed with Chelsea Football Club and so that was what she dived into, analysing the Twitter feeds of Chelsea players at that point and generating infographics from them. Her little sister was obsessed with Build-a-Bear so she went around and collected some fantastic information on that. There was another girl who wanted to find  out the best member of One Direction.

Everyone has passions. Everyone sees problems that they’re very aware of, and they’re growing up with all of these, and so they’re really, really aware of what needs to be solved. They really care, and so I think it’s being able to show technology in that context, and allow people to get creative.

What age range are you targeting with the resources you mention?

Basically from 4 to 19, the gamut of primary and secondary education.

Knowing what you know about STEM in schools, do you think there’s enough collaboration between these disciplines in mainstream education, or do you think that there could be more focus on collaborating and skill sharing?

There could always be more. Collaboration is one of those things where the more you do, the more you learn, the better you get, so I think there’s definitely more that could be done. I do actually think it’s an interesting one. Teachers are between a rock and a hard place I think on this, because exams are not (for the most part) collaborative. Most SLTs have particular KPIs and metrics they look at to gauge how well their schools are doing, but I think with a bit of imagination these metrics can actually be made to work to provide a more collaborative setting in schools – for example, how can school leaders reward time that’s spent in collaboration? How can they reward this future skills work by teachers which is happening in their schools? Obviously, it does require investment, experimentation, and a little bit of thinking outside the box to give teachers agency to be able to try new things.

I think teachers do want to do this, but at the moment there’s a sense that there’s not enough positive reinforcement and support for those teachers when they do go a little bit outside the box, so we do certainly need more support and buy-in from SLTs to help build these core skills of collaboration – don’t forget, these skills are going to help close up the gaps that have been left by the pandemic and really address many of the issues around wellbeing and lost learning which we’re hearing so much about now.

UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK – funded by all four governments of the UK – is the biggest, most ambitious creative programme ever presented on these shores. The programme offers a once in a lifetime opportunity for pupils aged 4-19, to become immersed in science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths (STEAM), through a range of remarkable projects across the UK and FREE online learning experiences. Explore the free resources today https://unboxed2022.uk/learning-programme

Millions of young people across the UK are set to benefit from a unique schools’ programme that puts creativity and collaboration at the heart of learning based on real-world examples.

UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is launching the programme designed to inspire young people, aged 4 to 19, with its creative projects showcasing collaborations across science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).

The UNBOXED projects involve hundreds of events and activities across the UK and online, and cover a range of ideas, including space and science, the environment, growing and sustainability, and history and community. From a bio-diverse forest in a city centre to a North Sea offshore platform transformed into a giant artwork, schools can experience first-hand these creative successes when engineering and design, scientific research and technological innovation, including AR and artistic work, come together.

Designed by educators, teachers, technicians and artists with a wealth of experience in STEAM, this free learning programme from UNBOXED includes engaging and fun lesson plans, worksheets and presentations to stimulate young people’s creative thinking, encourage global citizenship and develop the skills they will need for the future of work. The resources are aligned to the curriculum across all home nations and suitable for enrichment and personal development. The programme is entirely flexible and offers a complete blend of class-based, online, real-world and location-based learning.

Resources currently available are linked to About Us, an immersive journey through 13.8 billion years of our history from the Big Bang to the present day; Our Place in Space, designed by renowned artist and writer Oliver Jeffers, which recreates the solar system as a 10-kilometre trail here on earth and Dreamachine, an artwork you ‘see’ with your eyes closed, which explores the human mind, as part of a massive research project into human perception.

Future resources will be based on StoryTrails, one of the biggest people’s history projects ever undertaken; Dandelion, a Scotland-wide growing project that reimagines the harvest festival for the 21st century; Green Space Dark Skies, which considers the environment and the UK’s beautiful landscapes; PoliNations, which is inspired by the fact that almost 80 per cent of the UK’s plant life originates from overseas; GALWAD: A story from our future, which projects the population into 2052, and SEE MONSTER, a feat of engineering and design that transforms a decommissioned off-shore North Sea platform into a space to playfully explore reflect the great British weather, reuse and sustainability.

According to a recent report from the Policy & Evidence Centre ”The promotion of creativity in educational settings can help young people build entrepreneurial skills and improve their future employability”. The UNBOXED Learning Programme recognises the importance for teachers to provide future skills-based and real-world learning to the classroom and seeks to reinvigorate creativity in every classroom in the UK. It believes creativity – our creativity – has the power to change the world.

Bhav Patel, Year 5 Teacher at West Hill Primary School, Staffordshire, said: “The resources we had from About Us were brilliant. They give children the ability to combine their creativity and science knowledge, through writing a poem based on space. It was so popular we had children asking to stay in rather than go out and play. The free resources are perfect for any teacher to just pick up and build into their lesson planning to increase engagement in the classroom and provide an exciting learning experience.”

UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is the biggest and most ambitious creative programme ever presented on these shores. It is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK, and is co-commissioned with Belfast City Council, EventScotland and Creative Wales.

Explore the free resources and join the UNBOXED Learning Programme today: unboxed2022.uk/learning-programme

The Every Mind Matters resources are NHS-approved and designed to support student mental wellbeing through a range of PSHE topics, featuring videos co-created by young people. The new activities encourage students to find self-care actions that work for them, and allow them to reflect on how they feel.

Analysis shows that some children and young people’s mental wellbeing has been substantially impacted due to the pandemic. Children with a probable mental disorder were twice as likely to have missed 15 or more days of school in Autumn term 2020 school (18.2%) as those unlikely to have a mental disorder (8.8%).

Alongside the new self-care activities, the Every Mind Matters resources cover important topics such as Social media, Building connections, and Dealing with change that can be used to support wellbeing across the whole school and link to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education. Lessons are flexible, ready-to-use and co-created by teachers and young people to encourage students to take part in peer-to-peer discussions.

The Department for Education recently confirmed that eligible schools and colleges will be able to apply for a grant of £1,200 each, which can be used by senior leaders to gain the knowledge and skills they need to roll out an effective ‘whole school or college approach’ to mental health and wellbeing, embedding it into their culture and making it a priority alongside academic recovery.

Children and Families Minister, Will Quince, said: “It’s absolutely vital that every child has access to the support they need and deserve, which is exactly why we’re prioritising children’s mental health alongside education recovery. These resources from Every Mind Matters will help support teachers to engage their students in important discussions around mental health and provide them with an additional set of resources to support their wellbeing.”

Louise Clarkson, Strategic Change Lead at Mind said: “We know that the past eighteen months has been an extremely challenging time for young people across the country, especially for those with pre-existing mental health problems. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, there was growing recognition of the scale of mental health challenges among students and increased demand for service. If a young person is experiencing a mental health issue, it’s vital that they know they’re not alone, and they deserve support. So it’s good to see that through a range of activities, Every Mind Matters is helping teachers find the right tools to help them facilitate healthy discussions in the classroom, which could empower students to find additional ways to improve their mental health, and ask for support if and when it is needed.”

The free resources from Better Health have been specifically designed to cater for all abilities and the activities are suitable for KS3 / KS4 including SEND students. Some of the resources are also suitable for KS2 pupils.

Whilst supporting students through mental health issues, it is important that teachers also look after their own mental wellness. The Every Mind Matters Mind Tool, available on the School Zone, provides additional support for teachers. By answering a short series of questions, the Mind Tool provides teachers with personalised, practical tips so they can find out what works for them.

Samantha Rosehill, an Assistant Head Teacher who worked on the project said; “The mental wellness of students is one of the biggest priorities in education right now. With so much confusion, stigma and apprehension surrounding the topic, having these short and time-efficient resources is invaluable.”

Speaking of the flexibility the activities offer, Rosehill continued to say, “What’s so impressive is how adaptable they are for the different levels of ability and age groups teachers often face. The self-care based activities come with great guidance giving teachers the confidence to deliver a very important topic to their students. I can see them being well-received with teachers and pupils”

To enter the competition and access the inclusive new resources simply sign up to the School Zone by 30 November 2021. Like all teacher resources from Better Health access is completely free.

Leading a coalition of museums and wildlife organisations, the Natural History Museum’s Urban Nature Project will create an urban nature movement through a UK-wide learning programme for young people, families and schools. A key strand of the project, Explore: Urban Nature, delivered in partnership with the Garfield Weston Foundation, will provide school children aged 9-14 with exciting opportunities to dig into what urban nature is, what it does, how it’s changing, and what they can do to support it.

Director of the Natural History Museum, Doug Gurr says: “When people talk about nature, they often imagine remote wilderness or rolling countryside but there is a fantastic diversity of life in towns and cities. The Natural History Museum is on a mission to create advocates for the planet, and we know that once young people are inspired to engage with the biodiversity around them, they are far more likely to want to want to protect and enhance it.”

Philippa Charles, Director of the Garfield Weston Foundation, lead partner for Explore: Urban Nature adds: “Our Trustees are committed to the natural world at this critical time and Explore: Urban Nature has the potential to be transformative. We hope it will help thousands of teachers ignite a passion for the nature on their doorsteps and thousands of students across the UK form a lifelong connection with the environment – at a time when it has never been more vital to the future of our planet.”

Over the next three years Explore: Urban Nature will involve museums from around the UK connecting teachers and students with their local environment, allowing them to become local experts and kick-starting a conversation about the importance of urban nature and biodiversity. The programme will include teacher training to help develop practical skills for outdoor STEM investigations into urban nature as well as hands-on outdoor museum workshops where students can investigate challenges facing nature in urban areas.

Throughout the three-year programme, museum partners from the Real World Science network will share resources to help students get outdoors, observe nature and ask their own scientific questions. The organisations partnering with the Natural History Museum are:

• RSPB: Giving Nature a Home in Glasgow in partnership with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
• Great North Museum, Newcastle
• Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales
• Birmingham Museums Trust
• Leeds Museums and Galleries
• Wollaton Hall (Nottingham City Museums and Galleries)
• Peterborough Museum (City Culture Peterborough)
• National Museum Northern Ireland
• Dorset Museum
• Stoke-on-Trent Museums

Natural History Museum ‘Tree-Health’ Competition

To celebrate the official launch of Explore: Urban Nature, schools across the country will take the first steps to observe and monitor the nature closest to home as part of a competition this September. Participating classes will have the opportunity to complete a health check of a local tree looking for evidence of common pests and diseases, using a step-by-step guide provided by the Natural History Museum. Teachers can then submit their students’ observations online and be in with a chance of winning a virtual Q&A session with a Natural History Museum scientist and an exclusive goody bag from the Museum’s gift shop.

It’s easy to get started, and teachers can complete the free tree health check with their classes in around 15 minutes, using the checks as a tool to explore the importance of trees to urban environments close to their school and be part of the urban nature movement.

Sign up to the newsletter and enter the tree health competition before 1 October 2021 by visiting www.nhm.ac.uk/schools/explore-urban-nature

Schools can explore the programmes in depth and register now FREE at hayfestival.org/schools, while pupils can apply to take part in the Beacons Project at hayfestival.org/beacons-project.

Welsh language Scribblers Tour events take place in-person on 3 November at Bangor University and on 4 November at Aberystwyth University, bringing creative inspiration direct to transition-year pupils (Years 6 and 7). Welsh poets Gruffudd Owen and Rufus Mufasa will lead the workshops alongside host Aneirin Karadog at both universities, with writers Mererid Hopwood, Eurig Salisbury and Hywel Griffiths adding to the programme at Aberystwyth, while Osian Owen joins at Bangor.

A free in-person Programme for Schools will then take place 24-25 November at Hay Festival Winter Weekend in Hay-on-Wye with six events for KS2-3 pupils. Sessions will also be broadcast online for pupils unable to travel to the booktown, adding to the free Programme for Schools digital archive and offering pupils all over the UK the chance to see their favourite writers and get creative.

On Wednesday 24 November, events for KS2 pupils include writer Onjali Q Raúf (The Lion Above the Door), illustrator Rob Biddulph (Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City) and author Emma Carroll (The Week at World’s End). On Thursday 25 November, events for KS3 pupils include writers Sally Nichols (The Silent Stars Go By) and Nicola Davies (The Song that Sings Us), and rap-poet Karl Nova.

Meanwhile, the Beacons Project, a free workshop residency for 16-18-year-olds interested in writing, will run through Hay Festival Winter Weekend, 24-28 November, offering the next generation of writers a tailored weekend of inspiration featuring Festival guests from across the main programme.

Over the past 18 months, Hay Festival’s education events have taken place digitally, reaching 100k pupils in more than a thousand schools across the UK and beyond, part-funded by the Welsh Government and Hay Festival Foundation.

Aine Venables, Hay Festival Education Manager, said: “We’re back for our first in-person events for schools since 2019 and we’re energised to welcome pupils and teachers again to our events. In a year of enormous challenges for young people and educators all around the UK, we’ve been pleased to connect with thousands digitally and can’t wait to re-connect with that same spark of inspiration in live events. Our free Welsh Scribblers Tour, Winter Weekend Programme for Schools, and Beacons Project offer a chance for young people all over Wales to engage with writers and their work. Everyone is welcome.”

Jeremy Miles, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said: “I’m very pleased to see that we have been able to support Hay Festival’s Programme for Schools once more, giving young learners access to a variety of creative and cultural experiences, both digitally and in-person.

“Cultural and creative learning will form a crucial part of our new Curriculum for Wales, and I’m pleased we’ve been able to work with Hay Festival to provide children throughout Wales with a rich series of events this autumn.”

Upcoming Hay Festival events for general audiences this autumn include international editions in Spain and Peru, along with Hay Festival Winter Weekend, which brings writers and readers together for a year-end wonderland of in-person and online events to inspire, examine and entertain, 24-28 November, in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.

Now in its 22nd year, an eclectic mix of speakers and performers will lead the hybrid Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme in five days of conversations, candle-lit storytelling, comedy, music, and family workshops. These will be the first Hay Festival events in the UK with ticketed audiences in two years, with the full programme due to be released at the end of September.