Nature Network
An after school club building confidence and creativity using nature connection and natural history
An after-school club facilitated by a Linnean Society staff member to engage KS3 students with nature on their doorstep, develop their skills and improve their wellbeing.
Timing: 1.5-2 hours after school, one evening a week for six weeks (usually within one school term).
Eligibility: Students in Year 7 and 8 at schools across North and West London.
Cost: This project is subsidised thanks to generous funding from the John Lyon's Charity. For each six week block, we charge a nominal cost of £100.
Are you a science lead, or key stage 3 teacher? Get in touch!
Our staff will facilitate one session a week at your school, for six weeks across a term. Activities will incorporate both science and art, and will vary depending on the type of green space on a school's doorstep, as well as season and weather conditions. Throughout the course, students will add to their own nature journals, allowing them to own and creatively document their work in their way. Nature journals are a wonderful resource, and have been used by amateurs and scientists alike for centuries to record and document their exploration and discoveries.
Nature connection is all about engaging with nature in a more meaningful manner - it's about noticing and reflecting on nature, and using all of our senses to engage. We'll be looking to combine that emotional connection with science and art, bringing together creativity, fieldwork skills and natural history.
We could be gathering leaves and flowers to ID, press and create artwork from, doing an invertebrate survey whilst also building habitats and building a bespoke mini-beast hotel, or sitting and listening for bird song - building our own sound map of the school inspired by nature - no matter where we are, nature is all around us!
Why are we doing this project?
Research shows a considerable drop in nature connection in young people post primary school – which then takes many years to recover. By continuing to engage students with confidence and passion for the natural world we hope to:
- Improve mental and physical wellbeing by spending time outside and engaging with nature.
- Improve nature advocacy in young people, in a time of global crisis
- Improve science literacy, and encouraging consideration for study of science at GCSE and beyond
- Instil a greater understanding and interest in local spaces and local wildlife
Eligibility
- Your school or organisation must be based in one of the nine John Lyon's Charity action boroughs: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, City of London or Westminster.
- Outdoor space, or somewhere we can visit nearby to investigate.
- Key stage 3 students – group size can be flexible, but ideally around 10 – 15 students. No prior knowledge required and content can be tailored to any level of ability.
- A nominal cost of £100.
We will be starting to deliver this project in schools in summer term of the 2024/25 academic year, and every term thereafter for 3 years. Due to the nature of delivering this project and the requirement of staff time and resources, we will have a limited number of spaces available each term – if you would like any further information and are interested in taking part, please get in touch with our Project Manager via the contact below.
F.A.Q.
Unfortunately not - this project is specifically targeting key stage 3 students as studies show there's a recognised drop in nature engagement around age 13 which then doesn't recover until adulthood. We want to minimise that!
Not currently; as our funding dictates where our work will be carried out. Fingers crossed, in the future, we'll be able to work on a wider scale, or produce resources to allow schools to do similar projects independently.
Nature is all around us! In fact, London is a surprisingly green city, with it's parks, river and trees. These small pockets of urban green space are vitally important to lots of wildlife, and we want to learn more about it! One of our aims is to boost access to nature; and that means looking for local spaces, not trekking across town.
For Year 1 of this project, sessions will be led by a Linnean Society member of staff, potentially with support from staff at the school (depending on safeguarding, pastoral care requirements etc.). In subsequent years we hope to be able to offer sessions with lower levels of support form the Linnean Society in order to increase our capacity, however we will still be heavily involved.
The project is designed to run as an after school club, a set day a week for 6 weeks across a term, with some degree of flexibility for shorter terms (most likely the first half of summer term). Timing for the sessions themselves can vary depending on your school day and when's convenient to finish, suggested length is around 1.5 - 2 hours.
Currently yes, we welcome enquiries from all organisations, including independent, specialist and alternate education provisions, so long as the above requirements are met.
