A Nature Premium providing a government funded, statutory requirement for schools to take children regularly into nature (nature defined as wild school grounds, woodlands, gardening, conservation, Forest School, farming, permaculture etc.). The Nature Premium would support children’s mental health and wellbeing. It would engage them with learning and transform their lives.
Time in nature is crucial for children’s mental and physical wellbeing: the benefits are far-reaching and well-documented. Nature provides a way to feel refreshed, revitalised, calm and relaxed. People who visit nature have greater life satisfaction, more self-worth, more happiness and less anxiety. Other benefits include better resilience, improvements in social functioning and social inclusion. Its benefits for physical wellbeing are critical too, research published in 2018 showed that children used more energy on a school day with Forest School (playing in woods), than on a school day with P.E.
Why it’s an idea whose time has come? • In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending climate crisis there is an urgency that demands supporting the Nature Premium for the benefit of all children. • 71% of people agreed that time spent in/surrounded by nature has been more important to them since the onset of the Coronavirus crisis in the UK. • ‘We recognise that playing and learning outside is a fundamental part of childhood and supports children’s mental health and wellbeing. We also know that some children have good access to natural spaces whilst others do not, such as those living in areas of high disadvantage’. (Department for Education response 2020-0040431 CRM:0461050). • It will give children agency to face three of the biggest challenges we face: biodiversity loss, climate change and wellbeing. • 83% of children said that being in nature made them very happy.
The Nature Premium will tackle inequality AND be fair to all children: • 71% of children from black and ethnic minority backgrounds reported spending less time outside since coronavirus, compared with 57% of white children. • Three-quarters (73%) of children from households with annual income below £17,000 spent less time outdoors, compared with 57% from households with an annual income above £17,000. • It will help equip children with the skills and knowledge to flourish in the new green industries in the 21st century.
Key quotes • “Connecting children with nature is one of the most important things we can do for them. It can boost their health, wellbeing and learning and give them a life-long love of the natural world”, Lord Blencathra, Deputy Chairman, Natural England. • “a plea for a transformation of our education systems towards one where children from an early age are encouraged to try and understand the infinitely beautiful tapestry of processes and forms that is Nature” Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta in his interim report of the Treasury commissioned report The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review (April 2020). • “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced” David Attenborough. • “The Nature Premium campaign seeks first and foremost to improve children’s’ mental and physical health, and to nurture the innate love of nature that all young people have within them. I think it’s a marvellous initiative, with the potential to both transform children’s lives and to lay the foundations for a society that will care for our environment in the future”. Professor Sir John Lawton CBE FRS President of the Institution of Environmental Sciences, Chair of Making Space for Nature government commissioned report.
What outcomes will it deliver for children? The Nature Premium will increase: • A range of outdoor education and nature experiences offered to all pupils to benefit their mental health, wellbeing, and education. • The engagement of all pupils with the natural world and human dependence on it. • The profile of nature, sustainability, and the UN Sustainability Development Goals as a tool for whole-school improvement and community engagement. • Confidence, knowledge, and skills of staff in teaching in the outdoors – in nature. • Participation in local and global community environment issues addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainability in school and the local community and volunteering with ‘nature’ charities.
How can we fund it? • The Sports Premium provides a model. It was funded using the sugar tax on soft drinks. • The Sports Premium only funds primary school children. The Nature Premium will support all children because: ü In early years there is a better return on investment. £1 spent on early years works harder than £1 spent for post year 11 children. ü In secondary schools all children need support for their mental wellbeing. The UK ranked lowest of 24 European countries for the proportion of children with high life satisfaction – as stated in the Children’s Commissioner’s Childhood in the time of COVID report. ü Additional funding for young people, to empower them to respond to the climate emergency, to solve real life problems in ways that explicitly link to their education. ü Young people in the UK worry more about the environment than the economy, Brexit, digital security or homelessness. Two in five young people in the UK worry about the environment and these children will have lower life satisfaction. ü Article 12 of the UN CRC Committee on the Rights of a Child states they have the right to have opinions and for these opinions to be heard and taken seriously. The Children’s Act 2004 follows up through the Children’s Commissioner. ü 94% of young people would like or would have liked the option to study a GCSE in Natural History. ü It will encourage good citizenship.
Wouldn’t this demand a massive amount of public money? No. Investment in the Nature Premium would probably cost less each year than the Treasury Scheme ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ and benefit all children.
The Nature Premium would be an investment to transform the next generation to be stewards for the planet and contribute to the new green economy and achieving Net Zero.
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