SEND Bee good: a new approach to wellbeing
Education journalist SAL MCKEOWN reports on her time spent at Arc School Ansley, where SEND pupils are reaping the wellbeing benefits of beekeeping.
Beekeeping may not seem to be an obvious choice for schools working with students with autism. There are safeguarding issues including stings and allergic reactions. Those learners who experience sensory overload in a classroom would surely be overwhelmed by the cumbersome suits, the smells in the hive, the loud buzzing noise, not to mention insects flying round their head.
I recently spent an afternoon at Arc School Ansley in Warwickshire where students are learning to be qualified
beekeepers while improving their wellbeing. The school, part of the Kedlestone Group, is an independent specialist day school for children and young people aged between 11 and 17 who have a diagnosis of autism, alongside social, emotional and mental health needs. Last year, their bees produced 79lbs of honey but this was just one of many benefits. Beekeeping has spawned new curriculum activities and had such an impact on staff and learner wellbeing that it was shortlisted for a TES award in the category Pupil Mental Health Initiative of the Year.
will be sold to the public. Bee welfare is important so students need a keen awareness of seasons, weather and temperatures. At certain times bees need a tonic to give them energy and keep them gathering nectar, so students follow a very simple recipe to make sugar syrup. The honeycomb has been used to teach shapes in maths and as a stimulus for artwork, while processing the honey in a spinner leads to practical estimation skills to get the right number of jars ready.
The benefits of beekeeping
Working with bees can provide an intense experience that has a great emotional impact. It requires calmness, discipline and mindfulness so students need to learn to self-regulate and have the maturity to know when they are not in the right frame of mind to enter the apiary. The school’s psychotherapist has helped them to develop their self-control and students are experiencing the thrill of being in the moment and learning to connect with nature on a deeper level. Teamwork and communication have improved. Learners must work together on hive inspections to stay safe. They help one other into suits which is a big responsibility as it is their protection against stings. They work through a sequence together and light the smokers to keep the bees calm when they lift the lid. This has had a knock-on effect on their general ability to plan, to think ahead and manage a sequence. Some have literally found their voice. One learner arrived at the school with a diagnosis of selective mutism but became so engrossed in hive inspections that they started to make and respond to requests such as: ‘Can you move that frame?’ Beekeeping has broken down some of the barriers between students and helped them to make friends and build good working relationships.
Five tips for being a bee-friendly school: • Arrange for a beekeeper to visit to give pupils a talk about bees and beekeeping.
• Plant snowdrops. These are an important source of protein that appear just as bees are beginning to venture out after the winter
• Get children to research garden plants that attract bees and make an information list for parents
The early days of the ADH-Bees project
Gail Carter, assistant headteacher at Ansley, is a trained beekeeper. When she introduced beekeeping into the school, a grant from the British Bee Charity provided start-up funding for equipment and the first colony of bees. Students are introduced to the apiary as soon as possible but it is not always love at first sight. ‘One of the obstacles we face is fear,’ said Gail. ‘Some young people (and staff) are afraid of bees and don’t want to work directly with them. There is no pressure to do so and there is a role for everyone within ADH-Bees.’ Some will be involved on the business side, spinning the honey and putting it into jars, designing labels or making candles from the beeswax. Sales of honey and candles enabled them to send a donation of £100 to the British Bee Charity this year to show their appreciation for the initial funding. The school has achieved Bee Friendly status and learners can work towards a junior beekeeping qualification run by the British Beekeepers Association.
Even before the apiary was finished, staff discovered that beekeeping could be an exciting addition to the standard curriculum. Gail took a group to an exhibition and sent them out in groups to gather information and prices for equipment including bee suits, gloves, bee brushes and smokers. This involved planning, speaking, listening and recording information. Once the bees were installed, students got involved in practical science. Bees are pollinators and so are on the curriculum alongside flies, beetles, wasps and moths. Hygiene and handwashing are paramount if you are working with food which
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www.education-today.co.uk October 2025
• Make bee and bug hotels in the school grounds • Sign up for the Bumblebee-Friendly Schools Award:
https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/learn-about- bumblebees/bumblebeefriendly-schools-award/award-registration/
A fascinating folklore has grown up around bees. You should tell the bees about changes in their environment, especially births, marriages and deaths, to stop them deserting the hive.
As part of the preparation for the Queen’s funeral, the beekeeper visited all the royal hives to inform them about her death. This superstition stretches right back to the Egyptians who believed that honeybees were messengers between humans and the underworld.
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