The Yorkshire Arboretum is home to over 7,000 trees, many of which are rare, and has great facilities for school groups. It's just 30 minutes from York and is accessible by public transport, so children can return there independently with their families without needing a car.

Generation Green funding has enabled over 100 children aged between 7 and 11 from Haxby Road Primary Academy in York to visit. The school has over 30% pupil premium (a grant for fund improved outcomes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds) so the days have supported children who never leave their locality to experience something completely new.

There were a number of different nationalities in the visiting groups including children who had recently started at the school and for whom English was not their first language. They engaged really well with the activities.

The Howardian Hills National Landscape team have partnered with a number of organisations with different expertise to provide hands-on activities, and the visits consist of a carousel of four activities for the children to enjoy in small groups.

• Linking Environment and Farming Education (LEAF Ed) deliver a workshop on soil and worms
  
  
• Yorkshire Arboretum staff run a session on orienteering
  
  
• A local theatre company, Everwitch Theatre, performs an interactive promenade about river conservation with props hidden in the undergrowth for children to find - this performance was developed as part of the National Lottery Heritage Funded Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership
  
  
• Finally our own team are providing a session focusing on connecting with nature, understanding what makes a landscape and guiding the children on a walk through the red squirrel enclosure. Nearly every child has seen a red squirrel!

More benefits

Working with Everwitch Theatre really brought the topics to life. This also provided opportunities to a local arts organisation and made the most of activities about local environments already developed with public money through the Ryevitalise funding.

Working with the LEAF Education on this project is paving the way for farm visits in the future - they have been working with farmers in the Howardian Hills to help them gain an accreditation to host school visits.

Working with these experts made subjects which we otherwise might think of as dry or boring come alive. Seeing the red squirrels and worm charming were the highlight of most of the children’s visits.