Learning to love wildlife, with Born Free
Calling all students, teachers, parents, grandparents and carers! With the Autumn Term underway, Charlie Smith invites you to dive into our fantastic new range of school activities.
Here at Born Free, we’re raring to go for the new school year. With teachers and students back in the classroom, we have exciting news to share about new resources and upcoming events.
Charlie Smith, Education Officer
Our Education team shares a passion to help people learn to love wildlife. The link between teaching and conservation might not be obvious at first, but it’s been proved that education is a vital tool to help wild species and habitats survive, long into the future.
Despite being devoted to wildlife, our charity has always known why education is vital. In the past year, in the UK alone, our team reached tens of thousands of young people, teaching compassion for wild animals and the importance of protecting wild species and their habitats. You can find out more below, including our most popular webinar ever with a very special guest. We also reflect on why we do what we do – it’s so important to dig deep and ‘know your why’!
What’s new and coming up for schools?
1. GSCE Biology – we’ve got it covered!
We’ve created a bespoke set of lesson plans and accompanying resources for the entire GCSE Biology B7 unit. Covering all the key topics in Ecology, this pack will save teachers valuable time, whilst getting students enthused about wildlife and the environment through their studies.
2. Paint along with John Dyer
Each term we’ll be joined by renowned artist John Dyer for an interactive paint-along webinar for your students. Learn facts about incredible wildlife and habitats, whilst painting along live with John. Keep an eye on our School Events page for updates and to sign up, and don’t miss our Halloween special – the Bats of Borneo.
3. Elsa’s journey to freedom
Did you grow up watching the classic film ‘Born Free’? Now you can share the true story of Elsa the lioness, and her journey to the wild, using our new child-friendly version of the story – perfect for story time.
4. Please join our Teachers’ Council
If you’re a teacher with a love for the wild, we’d love you to join our new Teacher’s Council to share your expertise and help us look to the future. Together, we can bring you an Education Programme that is engaging, relevant and impactful. Please apply via our Careers Page by the 30th September 2024.
Highlights from the past year
From art classes to peaceful demonstrations, plus our hugely popular World Book Day online event with author Sir Michael Morpurgo, we engaged with young people across the country:
- Through bespoke creative arts and classroom-based workshops, run alongside creative partner Haus of Conservation, 361 students from Years 3 through 6 were able to delve into the ethics of keeping wild animals in captivity and the impact a life in captivity can have on individual animals and their welfare.
“Whereas children were previously excited by the thought of a zoo, they now consider the downsides.”
– Year 6 Class Teacher
- Across the school year, over 3,428 students were reached through Born Free outreach workshops, run by Born Free and GenEarth volunteers. Through these workshops, students learnt about wild animal welfare, threats facing wildlife and protecting precious wild habitats.
“The workshop really got the children thinking and now they all feel very passionately about protecting wildlife and fighting for animal rights.”
– Year 3 Class Teacher
- We were joined by a special guest for our World Book Day webinar, author Michael Morpurgo, who read an extract from his children’s novel, The Butterfly Lion. We were also joined by Glen Vena, from Shamwari in South Africa, who talked about Born Free’s rescued lions and leopards. Through this event we reached an amazing 23,945 pupils from 380 schools, making this the largest webinar we have ever run.
- Along with our Youth Ambassador, Ayan, the Education team supported our creative partner, Drawing for the Planet, in the delivery of workshops to 900 students, as part of their ‘The Tiger’s Forest’ project. Students learnt about tiger biology, their habitats and conservation, before creating their own unique biro drawings of tigers and other Indian and Malaysian wildlife.
- Three of our Junior and Youth Ambassadors, Hector, Thea and Leo, joined 100,000 marchers at the Restore Nature Now Rally in London, to represent and be a voice for young people.
Will Travers with Junior Ambassadors Leo, Thea and Hector at the Restore Nature Now march
Why education?
Why does a wildlife charity care about education? This new school year is also a wonderful opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do.
Education fuels passion and intrigue in young people – by providing a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding, we can help instil a love of wildlife and respect for the natural world. Born Free’s UK Education team, through free workshops, classroom resources and online events reaches thousands of students every year. We encourage students to make sustainable choices, by teaching them how we rely on nature, including wild animals, to survive. This can help to shift their thinking about humanity’s place in the world, as part of, rather than in charge of nature.
We also promote compassion and respect for wild animals. As an organisation that is committed to keeping wildlife in the wild, our programme provides students with the tools they need to think more critically about zoos and other captive facilities, both in the UK and abroad. Students can then assess and, as needed, question information provided to them by such facilities to decide for themselves whether they have a place in modern society.
As well as supporting students and their learning, Born Frees wants to support teachers, so that they feel confident to deliver information about local and global wildlife to their students. Teachers play a huge role in shaping students’ knowledge and attitudes towards biodiversity and conservation both at primary and secondary level, so by supporting and upskilling them, even more students learn to love wildlife.
Born Free aims to empower a new generation of conservationists. We hope that each young person grows up empowered to make sustainable choices, and make positive choices for wild animals, whether living in captivity or the wild. Through education, we can make this happen.
If you would like to find out more about Born Free’s extensive UK Education programme, please email education@bornfree.org.uk or use the link below.