The resource showcases the diverse skills involved in a day in the life of the British Army and provides teachers with an exciting way to teach geography that captivates students.

The Applying Geographic Skills resource provides an in-depth look into the diverse roles within the British Army that utilise geographic skills, from logistics to strategic planning, broadening students’ understanding of how geography is applied in different careers. By presenting geography in the context of real-world Army scenarios, this innovative resource offers teachers an exciting way to make geography lessons captivating and relevant for students aged 11–16.

With robust curriculum links, the resource addresses a critical need in the education sector. A recent study by the Geographical Association (2024) reveals that 70% of UK teachers need more accessible and high-quality resources to effectively deliver the geography curriculum. Furthermore, 48% of teachers report their workload as unmanageable most or all of the time (Engineering UK, 2023), underscoring the necessity for additional support and innovative teaching materials in geography education.

The new resource introduces students to essential geographic skills in data, map, and GIS analysis. In one of the featured activities, students work to analyse a range of data to determine a location for a Forward Operating Base (FOB). The resource includes two 45-minute lessons and a 60-minute session with presentations and worksheets, with activity options and extensions for KS4.

The British Army’s free platform, British Army Supporting Education, is a one-stop shop of award-winning resources available to support teachers. It offers engaging, curriculum-led resources and the ability to organise inspiring workshops, work experiences, and career development services.

The Applying Geographic Skills resource is now available for free on the BASE website here. You can also explore their full range of resources, covering leadership, mental wellbeing, character education, employability skills, STEM, and key calendar moments such as Black History Month, Remembrance, and VE Day on their lesson library here. With these supportive educational resources, the British Army positively impacts the educational experience of young people and empowers them for the future.

Esri UK created mobile apps that enabled children to map their emotions along with what they saw, heard and smelt across the gardens and start learning some of the skills needed to study biodiversity. Findings were explored on an interactive dashboard, helping them to understand how different environments cause different reactions.

The National Education Nature Park is a pioneering Department for Education initiative launching later this year, created to teach children about climate change and improve biodiversity across the country. Run by a partnership led by the Natural History Museum (NHM), working with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and geospatial partner Esri UK, the park will enable young people to lead the way in mapping, monitoring and enhancing biodiversity at their places of education, equipping them new skills and improving wellbeing.

The activity day was visited by representatives from the DfE and Chair of Trustees of the NHM, Sir Patrick Vallance and Clare Matterson CBE, Director General of the RHS. Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DfE, attended as the DfE announced £15m in funding for education settings in the most deprived and nature depleted areas to engage with the programme. Children who took part were from schools in pilot regions of the Northwest and West Midlands, currently helping to shape the National Education Nature Park scheme.

Esri UK created mapping apps for the event, enabling young people to record their experiences by plotting what they saw, heard and smelt, along with the emotions they felt at different locations. Another app introduced them to species identification and the skills needed for tending to different plants and wildlife. The software also allowed them to explore the results on an interactive dashboard to understand how different environments cause different reactions and encourage problem solving. Designed to introduce young children to the concepts of mapping and citizen science, the test apps will help develop final versions for the Nature Park.

“Digital mapping enabled the children to record and share information and start learning some of the skills needed to study biodiversity at their own learning sites,” explained Katie Hall, Schools Manager at Esri UK. “This type of activity helps young people begin to understand our emotional connection with the natural world and how improvements to it have a positive impact on wellbeing. Biodiversity mapping will help children develop a wide range of skills, including numeracy, spatial awareness, data visualisation and analysis, which encourages analytical thinking. All of these skills help prepare them for future careers and to better protect the world around us.”

Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the Department for Education and our partners to make the National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards start to become a reality. In the face of the planetary emergency and Museum research showing that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, having our scientists sharing their world-leading biodiversity expertise with the scientists of tomorrow gives me so much hope, both for the future of biodiversity in this country and for the futures of the young people taking part.”

Clare Matterson CBE, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, said: “From creating pollinator-friendly habitats, digging ponds, identifying wildlife or planning planting schemes, nurseries, schools and colleges will be able to play a driving role in mapping, monitoring and enhancing biodiversity on their doorstep. Children and young people will have a chance to create and grow a garden that works for wildlife, to learn new skills and understand impacts of climate change – all of which offers a gateway to a lifelong interest in nature, biodiversity and sustainability.”

All education settings in England will be able to sign up to become part of the National Education Nature Park and work towards the Climate Action Awards via a new online platform, set to launch in the Autumn term. They will also be able to access the free resources and track biodiversity gains in their areas.

All those interested in taking part can receive the latest updates by signing up to the NHM mailing list here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/education-nature-park

The event was supported by Marriage’s Flour, Ladies in Pigs, Vine House Farm, Co-op Central England, Thomas Beazley, Park Farm Thorney, and Schöffel Country – who came along as part of their new partnership with Kids Country, to be launched on ‘Black Friday’.

Folksworth C of E Primary school headteacher, Michelle Norbury, said: “We’ve worked with Kids Country many times over the years and know how exciting it is for the children to have this kind of hands-on learning experience brought to them in school. It is so important to get children excited about locally produced food and how it is grown – we are surrounded by farmland at our village school so for children to understand what that land produces, with activities like Farmer Luke’s ‘Metre Square’ is really engaging for our students.”

Children rotated around four activities – Pancake Making, Pig Zone (learning all about pig farming and tasting the difference between free range rare breed pork sausages and typical premium supermarket ones), Tractor Zone with Farmer James from Park Farm Thorney, and the Metre Square with Farmer Luke, where children learn exactly what can be grown in a metre square of farmland and the inputs required to do so.

Joining the Kids Country for the first time was award winning food writer, Jenny Jefferies. Jenny, author of the “For the Love of the Land” and “For the Love of the Sea” books, said: “It was a real privilege to come along to the Kids Country Breakfast Week today. It’s such a fantastic and inspiring initiative, and to see first-hand how school children are experiencing food provenance in an all-inclusive, enjoyable and informative way is both heartening and wonderful. This is what it’s all about!”

Alongside the usual team of Kids Country educators and volunteers, the event also welcomed Charlie Coups and Paul Tomson from Schöffel Country, who are partnering with Kids Country this year for a range of fundraising events – kicking off with their Black Friday event next week. Charlie said: “We were delighted to join the team at Kids Country for the start of Breakfast Week 2022. It was clear from the offset how passionate Sandra and her team are in helping to educate children about food, farming and the countryside. The children were excited to learn and engaged throughout the morning in a variety of hands-on tasks – it’s not every day you get the chance to see a tractor up close or do a taste test on rare breed vs supermarket sausages! I hope that over the next twelve months, Schöffel Country can help to shine a light on these countryside heroes and the incredible work they do in educating the next generation.”

The Kids Country team also took their Breakfast Week event to Fourfields Community Primary School, Yaxley, and Clough and Risegate Community Primary School, Spalding, in the same week, with a second Breakfast Week sold-out in January.

Kids Country education manager, Sandra Lauridsen, said: “Breakfast Week is always such a great event to bring to schools as children all eat breakfast in some form, so it’s really useful to engage them in not only how that breakfast is grown – whether it’s sausages, toast or cereal – but also about making healthy nutritional choices part of their decisions.”

“We are so grateful for all of our volunteers, educators, the companies donating produce and their time, and also to Jenny Jefferies, and Charlie and Paul from Schöffel Country – their engagement helps us to bring more events like Breakfast Week to more schools going forwards.”

To keep up to date with upcoming Kids Country events, please visit: https://www.kids-country.co.uk/events/

The online lessons will be delivered live over Zoom by immersive learning resource, Lyfta, and will take place on Wednesday 6th July and Friday 8th July with sessions to suit older and younger learners. The session incorporates a human-centred short documentary film and interactive learning environments so students can virtually explore and take in the sights and sounds of an active volcano, the scientists’ control room and the local church.

Students will need to tread carefully as they walk in the shoes of the volcanologist and his team, learning about key geology concepts such as why volcanoes erupt, rock cycles and what causes volcanoes to appear in certain parts of the world.

Despite a career in science offering incredible variety and opportunities to make a positive impact on the world, many young people are unaware about the career options in the industry. Part of the challenge is a lack of accessible work experience opportunities, particularly for young people living in remote and disadvantaged regions in the UK. For example, research by the British Science Association found that 29 per cent of young Londoners would consider a career in science, compared to just 17 per cent of young people in the North East.

Without these opportunities to experience the world of STEM, it is difficult for young people to aspire to a career in the science field.

Serdar Ferit, co-founder and co-CEO at Lyfta, said: “Our aim is to provide experiences that give every student equal opportunities to experience new things and develop their cultural capital, no matter their geographic location or background. Through immersive storytelling, students can virtually travel to the Canary Islands and experience a day in the life of a science professional, ask questions and find out more about volcanology.”

“The free, immersive lessons provide teachers with a fun way to supplement geography content and bring learning to life for students, particularly those who might be curious about what a scientist does and how they started in the field. Being able to apply theory and knowledge to real-world scenarios is essential if we want to inspire the next generation of brilliant science thinkers and innovators.”

The lessons will take place on Wednesday 6th July for primary schools and Friday 8th July for secondary schools. For more information and to register a class for the live, “We live amongst volcanoes” lesson, please visit: https://www.lyfta.com/blog-storage/end-of-term-primary-activities