Inspiring future green leaders
An Environmental Education Ideas Exchange
As the next generation of guardians for our planet, it is vital that our children are able to engage and meaningfully connect with their environment.
Studies such as Natural England’s Children’s People and Nature Survey show that, while concern for the environment is now mainstream, environmental behaviours are not.
There is a strong national evidence base for the wellbeing and educational benefits of outdoor learning and experiences, and the greatest needs and impacts for those living in areas of deprivation.
But children living in urban areas, towns and cities may find it difficult to spend time in nature.
What we are doing
With funding from the Brickability Group Foundation, Earth Trust is participating in a 3 year project (from April 2023-2026) in an environmental education and experience programme focused on schools within Reading, including two wards that are within the 10% most deprived in England.
Inspiring Future Green Leaders is developing and delivering environmental education and experiences for 15 schools, reaching one third of all state primary schools in the town.
Working with five schools per year, we are delivering a combination of in-school and off-site activity.
Each school is given the opportunity for a class to visit the Earth Trust for a full day, taking part in environmental education activities that align with their planned curriculum- such as biodiversity, habitats, climate change, landscape history and heritage.
Schools are being encouraged to connect and share their learning and experiences about outdoor environmental education, creating lasting and sustainable change by continuing to inspire each other and neighbouring schools to implement changes.
In order to further support the development of each school community’s own environmental interests, activities are also being delivered on school grounds. Schools are being supported by us to implement a change in their own setting that has the potential to impact all children and classes. For example, a school may choose to train multiple teachers to teach biodiversity in the school grounds, or opt to introduce food growing spaces that all children have access to.
Earth Trust tutor teams will help schools to implement simple changes, run activity workshops with a wider range of pupils, or embed environmental activity within their learning programme.
The project aims to create a network amongst the schools across the town, to share learning, experiences and enthusiasm to help build lasting change.
The impact we hope to see
By focusing on a community of schools in a single geographic area, the project aims to foster a network of support that can sustain the work beyond the lifetime of the project, significantly contributing towards the nature connectivity and positive environmental impact for primary schools and pupils within Reading.
The Brickability Group Foundation is a Registered Charity dedicated to ‘building the future, supporting communities, initiatives and individuals in the UK and abroad’. Based in Bracknell, close to Reading, the Brickability Foundation is proud to fund a project that will provide significant local community social impact in support of the Group’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy.
