Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, helping to protect England’s nature and landscapes for people to enjoy and for the services they provide. It is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

More information about Natural England can be found here. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

Natural England is one of the main sponsors of the Natural Connections Project, a 4 year demonstration project also funded by Defra and Historic England and delivered by Plymouth University (insert link to PU page when live). It developed in response to research and insight studies into the barriers and benefits of outdoor learning in schools. The project, which came to an end in April 2016, has been testing and evaluating new ways of providing local, independent support to schools and teachers to stimulate both the demand from schools for cross-curricular outdoor learning and the supply of training and support networks to build teacher confidence and skills.

Natural Connections aimed to increase the number of school children, particularly from disadvantaged communities, able to experience the full range of benefits that come from learning in local natural environments, by reducing the barriers teachers face when wanting to take lessons outside. The project which worked with 125 schools, 40,000 pupils and 2,000 teachers across the South West, is now at an end, with the last task being to share some really valuable findings to encourage schools and other learning providers to do more outdoor learning.

Contact email: jenny.hanwell@naturalengland.org.uk

Contact telephone: 0300 060 3900 (Natural England Enquiries)

Natural Connections Project website: www.naturalconnectionsblog.wordpress.com

Twitter: @NaturalEngland / @ntrlconnections