THE EDUCATION team at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is inspiring people to go wild.
The trust has launched an online ‘Wild About Learning’ hub for teachers and parents to inspire the next generation of nature lovers and conservationists.
The team usually works with children and young people through work with schools, nurseries and play schemes, and activities at its nature reserves across Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull.
The project will make the team’s work even more accessible for children by sharing how-to videos, outdoor learning ideas and educational resources.
With a range of forest school themes, the hub provides virtual sessions for three age groups – Nature Tots for pre-school children, Nature Club for primary school ages, and Call of the Wild for teenagers.
Education manager Vicky Dunne said: “We wanted to give every school and every parent on our patch the opportunity and the confidence to take children outdoors and do something a little bit wild or creative, whether they are on the playground, exploring a park or in their garden at home.
“We are passionate about getting children connected with and closer to nature and really hope our new Wild About Learning hub will provide lots of ideas for anyone wanting to encourage outdoor fun and learning.
“It has been an extremely challenging year for everyone but we have all probably begun to see how important nature is for us and also our children. It may have been that one hour of exercise in the early days where you noticed the seasons change, or enjoying those local wild spaces you never even knew existed.
“The coronavirus pandemic has given our education team an opportunity to take a step back and develop something a little bit different and we hope that going forward, this will make our work even more accessible to local schools and families.”
The hub is part of the education team’s Wild About Learning outdoor programme for children and young people in Coventry, Nuneaton and Bedworth, which is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
The team hopes it will be useful both while its activities are restricted by covid-19 and into the future to encourage outdoor learning, with 15 virtual sessions available and more to be added over the coming months.
Visit www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/wildaboutlearning to get started.
