News 75,000 children across the UK join forces to protect precious pollinators
205 schools located across all counties within the UK, are celebrating the news that they been selected to participate in the UK wide ‘Polli:Nation’ project – an initiative which supports schools to provide food and shelter for Britain’s pollinating insects.
The 205 selected schools have been handpicked, following an application process that required them to demonstrate how they would like to transform their grounds to support the dwindling population of Britain’s pollinators. The Polli:Nation project, developed by the charity Learning through Landscapes (LTL), is the result of a collaboration between various wildlife and education organisations. The programme runs over a period of three years and allows selected primary and secondary schools to join forces in clusters of four. Pupils will have direct hands-on experiences; from creating vertical green walls and night-blooming flower beds, to lobbying to change
school maintenance regimes and debating pesticide use. Schools from all corners of the UK - from Penzance to John O’Groats, and from every nation in the UK - will contribute by developing a variety of projects. Some will aim to protect the UK’s rarest pollinator, the Great Yellow Bumblebee, whilst others will develop orchards, wildflower meadows and spaces for brambles and nettles - which make excellent winter shelter for pollinators.
The Polli:Nation project - funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) - will eventually provide a total of 260 chosen schools with curriculum linked resources, training opportunities for teachers, funds for physical developments as well as ongoing support and guidance from one of LTL’s trained experts. A combined roll of 75,000 children will learn about the different pollinators we depend on and how to identify and survey them, whilst they collect and contribute essential data, which will be used in a UK- wide pollinator survey. A further 55 schools will also be named as participants in the coming weeks.
www.polli-nation.co.uk
Paralympic athlete Ade Adepitan unveiled as ambassador for schools multi sport wheelchair
Photo: Nick Butcher opportunities within physical activity.
Stylish and lightweight, the multisport chair is available in four different sizes and corresponding vibrant colour frames. Priced at £450 and manufactured in Britain, the chair is considered high value due to its versatility and modern features, in a marketplace littered with clunky and cumbersome chairs.
The multi sport wheelchair is receiving high praise in both the sport and educational sectors; receiving four stars by disability magazine Able and CEO of British Paralympic Association Tim Hollingsworth claiming the chair is “a high quality entry-level wheelchair that will help make a wide variety of sports accessible to young people.”
Paralympic athlete and TV personality Ade Adepitan has been unveiled as the ambassador for the new multi sport wheelchair from Youth Sport Direct. Youth Sport Direct have teamed up with British manufacturer Roma Sport to offer the ‘Best of British’, chairs in a bid to make truly inclusive PE and school sport opportunities easier for schools to provide. The chair is designed for both able-bodied and disabled players, and can be used for a variety of sports such as tennis, boccia, badminton and basketball at introductory level. This allows schools to use them over a range of disciplines and expose young people to different sports and
Ambassador Ade Adepitan highlighted the importance of an integrated approach to physical activity in schools, how this can increase confidence and offer more opportunities in sport for all. “This multi sport wheelchair is going to help the integration of young disabled people and make them feel like an integral part of society from a young age. It’s so important they’re part of the team and able to express themselves. I think people will really see the benefits of this in 20-30 years time when people don’t think twice about seeing someone with a disability in sport. If a young person wants to become a basketball player, it should be the same as if they want to become a politician. We need to play our part - and help schools to provide an inclusive opportunity in sport.”
www.youthsportdirect.org Education Secretary visits Twycross Zoo
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan recently paid a visit to Twycross Zoo, to see for herself the educational opportunities which the zoo offers. Sharon Redrobe, CEO at Twycross Zoo accompanied the Education Secretary on a visit of the zoo’s newest habitat, the Gibbon Forest, where they also joined in a live teaching session with Year 5 pupils from Dixie Grammar Junior School. In 2015 over 54,000 students took part in the zoo’s educational activities and the zoo constantly receives positive feedback from their teachers. The Education Secretary praised the zoo for its wide range of educational programmes and support of the STEM agenda.
According to the Education Secretary “It was a pleasure to visit Twycross Zoo and experience first-hand how they are encouraging young people to learn more about STEM subjects. It is so important that young people learn
March 2016 Photo: Alistair Langham
these skills, that are not only vital in everyday life but can open the door to a range of exciting and rewarding careers. I really value what the zoo is doing to promote STEM subjects and it is an impressive outcome that 85% of young people who participate in the STEM programme at the zoo say they are more likely to pursue a career in science.” Dr Sharon Redrobe, CEO of Twycross Zoo added “We were very pleased to welcome Nicky Morgan to Twycross Zoo and present our educational programme which is specially designed to support teachers on STEM subjects and encourage learning at all ages. The zoo is very well-placed to support the
STEM education agenda and we regularly receive positive feedback on our activities aimed at supporting these subjects.”
www.twycrosszoo.org www.education-today.co.uk 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48