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Helping young people connect with nature: Taking the outdoors inside (the classroom)



Helping young people connect with nature: Taking the outdoors inside (the classroom)

April 8, 2020

The National Park’s education team are signposting schools to resources that will help pupils stay in touch with the great outdoors, including recording wildlife from home, creating colourful artwork of chalk grassland and a fun e-book.

Jonathan Dean, Education Officer, explained: “We know that staff in schools will be working especially hard to keep in touch with their pupils and families over the coming weeks and we recognise that the most important thing for everyone right now is to stay safe and stay at home, to look after themselves, their families and loved ones.

“Over the past 10 years, we have been lucky enough to share our love of the National Park with hundreds of teachers and thousands of pupils, exploring the wonders of the landscape with them through workshops, activities, events, training days and conferences.

“These next few weeks will feel alien to us and our colleagues in other education centres as we would normally be entering the busy summer season of trips and visits. But, while we can only engage remotely, we’ve started collating ideas from across the South Downs to help schools and their communities stay in touch with our incredible nature reserves, historic sites and breath-taking landscapes. We’ll keep updating our blog with great ways to stay in touch over the coming weeks, from videos to crafts, online games and more. It’s important to maintain our connection with our history, the wildness and beauty of the National Park.”

For more information visit https://learning.southdowns.gov.uk/learning/education-team-blog/staying-connected-with-nature-and-the-national-park/

Here are a few ideas from Jonathan if you’ve got a moment to spare:

  • The Fish, the Goatsucker and the Highwayman. The magic, mystery and myths of South Downs heathlands have been brought to life in this fun new e-book that explores the history of this unique landscape.
  • The City Nature Challenge with the Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere is going ahead from home, record how much wildlife you see from 24-27 April, www.nature2020.org.uk/city-nature-challenge
  • Tree tools for schools from the Woodland Trust has some fun, interactive games. Test your ID skills and learn how we use trees to make tables, houses, bowls and musical instruments, www.treetoolsforschools.org.uk/
  • WWF’s #LearnToLoveNature hub is packed full of fun activities and ideas for pupils and families to explore our world from home, www.wwf.org.uk/updates/learn-love-nature

Jonathan added: “When you’ve got a moment, take a moment, nature is still there and it still has the power to make us feel good.”