Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from outdoor learning through WWT’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ scheme

School children from disadvantaged areas will experience nature close up through a four-year £1m, free school visits scheme provided by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in partnership with HSBC. This year 450 students are booked in for education sessions at WWT Arundel Wetland Centre under the WWT’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ free school visits scheme through to March 2014. The teacher of the Year 7 class from Redwood Park School in Portsmouth which attended under the scheme, said “The students had an amazing day.. they really appreciated the opportunity to be in such a spot, away from their normal city life.”

Research shows learning outdoors helps to improve children’s personal, social and emotional development. Yet pupils miss these opportunities because the cost and lack of specific training for teachers.

HSBC’s support is enabling WWT Arundel to provide free lessons to schools held outside the classroom. Over the next four years 60,000 pupils will learn curriculum subjects through hands on activities including pond dipping and feeding different types of birds while benefitting from experience of the natural world.

Across the UK the scheme will also train 300 teachers, and a further 12,000 will gain direct experience in taking learning outdoors.

Martin Spray, WWT Chief Executive said:

“WWT lead the field in outdoor learning. More than 2.2 million children have been on a school trip to a WWT Wetland Centre since the 1940s. 
“Research shows that children benefit physically and emotionally by being close to nature. And nature benefits from children being inspired to care for their environment. 

“We believe that learning outside is a right for every school child, not a luxury. HSBC supports this belief too and together we will help make it a reality.”

Antonio Simoes, Head of UK Bank at HSBC said:

“We have partnered with WWT for over a decade. The Inspiring Generations scheme is a fantastic example of how to connect young, disadvantaged people with nature. Through hands-on outdoors education, we will be helping 60,000 young people learn more about the wetlands and the freshwater challenges we face both locally and globally. I am proud that HSBC is supporting this scheme through our community investment programme.”

WWT’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ free school visits scheme is available at eight of its nine Wetland Centres across the UK including  Arundel Wetland Centre in West Sussex. To find out more about WWT’s “Inspiring Generations” free school visits scheme, visit www.wwt.org.uk/learn