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FEATURES OUTDOOR LEARNING 4 | FORESTRY ENGLAND Forestry England cares for the nation’s forests and is the largest land manager in England. It also provides a fantastic range of teaching resources for a variety of ages and stages. I was incredibly impressed with the fun and engaging activities on offer on its website, which include videos and lots of downloadable activities and worksheets. From Forest Yoga to map-reading and numeracy skills, there’s something for everyone. My favourite is a treetop trumps game – what a brilliant idea! See tinyurl.com/tp-FEschools 5 | THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS Forty-six regional trusts across the UK seek 'to empower people to take meaningful action for nature’. In my experience, it's easy to enthuse young learners about wildlife that's on their own doorstep. Wildlife Trust’s learning page, tinyurl.com/tp-WTlearning is well worth a look for its downloadable guides and learning programmes. The downloadable Nature’s Climate Heroes programme is an inquiry-based resource that helps KS2 pupils understand the connections between nature, climate change and people, before giving them an outlet for climate activism. The seasonal programmes like ‘My Wild Summer’ are also very practical. 6 | THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND The WWF offers a world-wide perspective, seeking to ‘sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife’. Children will love travelling around the world encountering tigers, sea turtles, polar bears and the like via the informative website. The jam-packed resource section also features more general materials on teaching biodiversity and endangered species. The page is extremely easy to navigate, with a wealth of lesson plans. One of the things I love most is that the material uses popular cartoon characters and films as hooks to engage young audiences – genius! tinyurl.com/tp-WWFresources Why reinvent the wheel when you have these brilliant resources at your disposal, says Barbara Henderson 6 ways to engage pupils with nature BARBARA HENDERSON is a teacher and writer. Her latest book for children is the eco- adventure I Don’t Do Mountains (£7.99, Scottish Mountaineering Press). barbarahenderson.co.uk/resources 1 | RSPB As a writer and as a teacher, I have a long history with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - from family visits to nature reserves as a child, to volunteering for the organisation as a young person. Established in 1889, the RSPB now cares for much more than birds – they aim ‘to bring people together who love birds and other wildlife, and who want to take action to restore the health and diversity of the natural world.’ The charity also has plenty of resources that work well in a school context. Not sure where to start? Look no further than its annual Schools Birdwatch survey, and its bank of worksheets, data, and story activities: tinyurl.com/tp-RSPBschools 2 | THE WOODLAND TRUST My childhood was almost exclusively spent in the woods – nothing puts a smile on a child’s face more than an afternoon clambering over roots and rocks. Up to 70% of ancient woodland in the UK has already been lost, but the UK's largest woodland conservation charity works hard to reverse this, with a vision for a world where woods and trees thrive. TheWoodland Trust protects existing woods, restores damaged woodland ecosystems and creates new ones by planting. It also has a good range of free resources on offer, including an online learning hub called Tree Tools for Schools. You can source ideas for outdoor learning and even entire assembly kits there, too. See tinyurl.com/tp-WTresources 3 | NATURESCOT As well as being a valuable timesaver for Scottish teachers looking for funding, Scotland's nature agency is a rich resource for all educators. The professional advice and outdoor learning page links to a wealth of information and brings it together accessibly in one place. For example, ready-to-use classroom resources that can introduce pupils from all over the UK to the wonders of Scotland’s flora and fauna. Take a look at tinyurl.com/tp-NatureScot www.teachwire.net | 11