Aim

Enabling the children of Bickleigh and Bolham Primary Schools to have access to regular outdoor learning sessions and training

Planet & People CIC is a small environmental education organisation based in Devon, passionate about helping young people reconnect with nature, community and the landscapes around them. We are delighted to be able to work closely with the teams at Bickleigh & Bolham schools to support them in making the most of their beautiful outdoor spaces for the benefit of the school community.

This fund will help to provide funding for:

• Time for a forest school/outdoor learning practitioner to regularly take sessions at the school
• Equipment needed for these sessions to take place effectively - tools, wildlife identifiers, storage units, (marshmallows!)
• Administration, insurance, safeguarding and first aid training required to make these sessions happen safely. 
• Time to support curriculum development and staff confidence with outdoor learning

Please note - all pledges will be ringfenced according to the school they were intended for. Please mark all Bolham School donations accordingly. 

Hopeful, place-based environmental education is essential for building resilient communities and a healthier future for both people and nature. We want to partner with schools to give strength to this vision and help them implement change whilst reducing the pressure on teaching staff by offering support, time and training in each setting. 

In order to protect and restore a healthy, beautiful natural environment, we must first appreciate its value - it is essential for us all. The next generation must develop with the understanding that we are all part of the nature, intrinsicly linked, and that the health of the natural environment ultimately determines our health and wellbeing.

Children learn best when they can experience the natural world first-hand - exploring rivers, wildlife, soil, trees and local habitats while developing confidence, curiosity and a sense of stewardship for the future. There is a growing body of evidence for the many benefits of outdoor learning and yet schools are often not in the position to explore these fully due to financial and other constraints.  

This project will support outdoor learning and environmental education opportunities for pupils at Bickleigh on Exe Church of England Primary School and Bolham Primary School through opportunities for extra support from Planet & People's expert bank of environmentalists and outdoor learning practitioners. We have been working with these schools to co-create a strategy for linking learning to the natural environment whilst embedding environmental best-practice into the culture of the school, giving agency to pupils and confidence to staff whilst reducing the pressure of the demands of school life by prividing extra resource.

Working with local environmental organisations and community partners, we want to help children connect classroom learning to real environmental projects happening in their local landscape. Activities may include traditional forest school-type activities as well as river and wildlife education, biodiversity surveys, creative nature-based learning, outdoor workshops and practical climate action projects.

This project fits within the Climate Action theme by helping young people develop climate and biodiversity literacy, increasing connection to nature and encouraging positive environmental action from an early age. 

Here's a short snippet to give you insight of the outdoor learning support that has taken place in Bickleigh School so far:

Let's help this valuable work to continue and benefit the next generations - linking their learning to the natural world and their wider communities. We would like to extend this work to showcase positive local community projects doing brilliant work nearby, linking to schools that gives us hope and inspires us to take care of the nature and be responsible citizens in this fast-changing world.

Please support this project and give children a chance to experience the many benefits of learning from the natural environment to boost the health and wellbeing of generations to come.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 31st July 2026 at 12:00pm