The Pick of the Week is our new round-up post each Monday to give you the best resources, ideas and activities for the week ahead. These may include new and exciting additions to the site, topical resources, or ones that have recently been popular with other community members.
Get out in nature!
As the weather picks up, our first pick this week is the MHA The Wilderness Garden’s wonderful resources. Their resources are split between Learning Together, Fun Together and By Myself – each offering a range of creative, fun ways to engage with nature.
Suitable for:
KS1, KS2 (though older students can also use them)
Subject links:
Art & Design, Biology, History, Maths, Religious Studies, Science
Featured resources:
- MHA The Wilderness Garden’s Learning Together Teaching Resources
- MHA The Wilderness Garden’s Fun Together Teaching Resources
- MHA The Wilderness Garden’s By Myself Teaching Resources
About MHA The Wilderness Garden.
The Wilderness is a historic garden created by the Rev William Wilks, Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society and Vicar of Shirley, Croydon, from 1888 to 1920. The seven-acre wild garden, run by the national older person’s charity MHA, is a unique conservation area thanks to its rare species of moss, wildlife and ancient woodland.
The Wilderness has designed a selection of cross-curricular lesson plans suitable for KS1 and KS2 learners and to support teachers in inspiring young learners to the natural world and learning more about the history of social care. Their offer is enriched with an animation video, a digital scrapbook and jigsaw, storytelling of bees and pollination, and more engaging video contents to learn about the wild side of the Wilderness garden.
Their free learning resources cover many subjects, including Science, Art, Maths, History, Religion Studies and many more. The resources you find under the Digital Educational Program are all free, easy to download and available on their website. Activities can be done by yourself, with friends and families, especially if visiting a park, a garden or any outdoor space and have some fun whilst learning.
Wherever you are, Be Wild about Learning!
Find out more about MHA The Wilderness Garden.
Download your free guide!
Get our Complete Guide to Virtual School Trip Ideas including online performances, virtual tours, online exhibitions and other virtual sessions.
All available for FREE!
National Shakespeare Day
This Friday is National Shakespeare Day (23 April), so we’ve picked out two brilliant education and resource hubs for all things Shakespeare!
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has loads of resources, educational videos and activities that you can use in the classroom for free.
Studying a particular text? Use their Learning Zone to find resources for specific plays. You’ll find key facts, key scenes, pictures from past productions, videos of actors and directors working on and performing the plays and find out about all the main characters and how they relate to each other.
Suitable for:
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4 & KS5
Subject links:
Drama, English
Find out more about the RSC’s Educational Offering.
Take a look at the RSC’s Learning Zone.
Also, take a look at Shakespeare’s Globe’s ‘Teach Shakespeare’ site. The hub offers hundreds of free learning resources, educational videos and activities to bring Shakespeare to life.
Suitable for:
KS2, KS3, KS4 & KS5
Subject links:
Art & Design, Drama, English, History
See all of Shakespeare’s Globe’s Free Education Resources.
Getting ready for elections
As the country gets ready for the May elections, we know that many of you will be looking for election-linked resources. Introducing UK Parliament’s brilliant resources, videos and interactive games!
Here you’ll find a wide range of activities and ideas that you can use for free in the classroom.
Fancy a virtual school trip? You can also take an interactive virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament – a great way to also bring the learning to life. The virtual tour gives a close-up view of famous rooms, halls and lobbies, including the House of Commons and House of Lords chambers.
Suitable for:
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
Subject links:
Citizenship, English, History, PSHE, Politics
Featured resources
- UK Parliament’s Voting Teaching Resource Pack
- UK Parliament’s How it Works: Parliament, Government, Democracy and You
- UK Parliament’s Voting Systems Teaching Resource Pack
- UK Parliament’s What Does Representing Mean? Teaching Resource Pack
- Houses of Parliament Virtual Tour
About UK Parliament
UK Parliament’s award-winning Education and Engagement Service offers a wide range of free resources and services for teachers and school children linked to the UK curricula.
These include free teaching resources, workshops for schools, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers and special events such as the annual UK Parliament Week festival.
See all of the UK Parliament’s Free Teaching Resources.
Find out more about UK Parliament.
It’s all about Science
We’ve recently partnered with Oxford University Museum of Natural History who offer a wide range of resources you can download and use for free!
Highlights include their in-depth educational video series with TV’s Steve Backshall and Alice Roberts.
The museum also offers some brilliant virtual school trip ideas, including online lessons, online exhibitions and an interactive virtual tour.
Subject links:
Biology, Science
Suitable for:
KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
Featured Resources
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Biodiversity and Evolution Online Lesson
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Evolution Solution Online Lesson
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Online Exhibitions
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Virtual Tour
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Educational Videos
About Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Oxford University Museum of Natural History holds an internationally significant collection of natural history specimens and archives in a stunning example of neo-Gothic architecture. It is home to a lively programme of research, teaching and events focused on the sciences of the natural environment.
The Museum offers a range of learning experiences for different audiences through structured taught sessions and tailored self-led activities. From early years children learning about dinosaurs to KS5 students carrying out their own research, the education team and collections staff can support your engagement with their collection.
Popular themes for resources include rocks, fossils, evolution and biodiversity. To see their complete learning programme click the link below.
Many of their taught sessions are available as digital sessions. To find out more about their digital offer and to talk about how these might be used in your teaching, please contact education@oum.ox.ac.uk.
See all of Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s Teaching Resources.
Find out more about the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
More resources & personalised ideas
We’re here every step of the way to help you find brilliant resources, activities and ideas to help you bring your learning to life.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to our weekly newsletter as a quick round-up of all the latest news, guidance, ideas and resources you can use to bring school trips into the classroom.
Looking for something in particular?
If you’re looking for something in particular, please do get in touch – we’re here to help! We can help you find suitable trips, virtual sessions and resources based on specific subjects, topics and more. You can email us at any time or get in touch through our online form.
Virtual School Trip Ideas
Arts & cultural venues across the country have created innovative new virtual school trip ideas that you can beam directly into your classroom!
To help you find the best virtual session, we’ve added a new Virtual School Trip Ideas section to the site.
Here we’ll feature all the things you can do to bring school trips into the classroom. We include everything from online exhibitions and online performances to virtual tours and virtual sessions.
See all of our Virtual School Trip Ideas.
Download our Complete Guide to 50+ Virtual School Trip Ideas you can do for free!
Download your free guide!
Get our Complete Guide to Virtual School Trip Ideas including online performances, virtual tours, online exhibitions and other virtual sessions.
All available for FREE!
Free Teaching Resources
Our Teaching Resource Library also includes hundreds of education packs, worksheets, educational videos, educational games and more – all of which you can download and use for FREE!
They’re a brilliant way to still connect with museums, galleries, attractions and theatres to find fun teaching ideas and activities.
Our resource library is split by subject and Key Stage, plus you can also search for a particular topic. And if there’s something particular you’re looking for – do get in touch!
