What is a ‘Nature Premium’?
We are calling on the UK government to invest in a Nature Premium to fund nature experiences for all children in education. The investment would represent a statutory requirement for schools to regularly take children into nature. ‘Nature’ could mean wild school grounds, woodlands, wetlands, gardening, conservation, Forest School, farms…
The Nature Premium model is based on the existing Sports Premium, introduced after the 2012 London Olympics, which sees each school receiving a pot of money to ensure every child participates in sport. The Nature Premium would work similarly - each school would receive additional funding each year from the Department for Education. How this funding is spent would be up to the individual school based on their circumstances. However the Nature Premium differs to the Sports Premium in it’s focus on levelling up access to nature. Schools with a higher percentage of free school meals will receive more funding, further enabling children in areas with less access to nature.
We believe that the Nature Premium is an idea who’s time has come. This commitment to the future of our environment, economy and health will allow our children to Grow Up Greener.
Read the full benefits of a Nature Premium and the supporting evidence by clicking the links below.
What is a Nature Premium?
Everyone/anyone can buy into an idea and make it their own.
Nature is all encompassing, it’s OK to interpret nature from your experience, interest, or background.
The variety and depth of the interpretation of nature makes the idea stronger.
The variety and depth of the interpretation of nature increases the support.
Nobody owns the idea; nobody benefits over someone else.
The DfE insists that schools are autonomous and innovative. Schools will take the Nature Premium idea and make it their own within:
a framework of Key Indicators (train staff, buy in expertise, buy kit, modify grounds, work in the community).
a framework reporting Key Outcomes.
the context of the school’s location.
the context of the children’s experience.
Regular nature experiences have been loosely defined as gardening, city farms, Forest School, pond dipping, exploring the countryside, farming, improving the local biodiversity, developing ‘green’ skills, permaculture and more.
Each school will make decisions that are ‘right’ for their children, taking account of:
the type of area they live in e.g., urban, rural.
The location of the school e.g., near the coast, moorland, forest, river, mountains and more.
the children’s experience.
the interest of the staff.
the current level of nature activity.
The Nature Premium is an ‘Idea Whose Time Has Come’…
When the Nature Premium is described as an idea, there is no commercial ownership or value. This is important because:
A public body such as the Department for Education (DfE) could adopt the idea of the Nature Premium as their own. A brand implies ownership transfer and purchase. Ownership and purchase add complicated negotiations which build in a ‘fatal flaw’ to the strategy. It creates unacceptable legal, financial, process and time hurdles.
Organisations can support the Nature Premium as an idea because it is something they believe in. While supporting a brand means that the owner of the brand will benefit more than the supporting organisation. How can you quantify the value of the support given? Shouldn’t a supporting organisation benefit from adding value to a brand? Maybe it would be better to set up their own brand?
It makes it easier for individuals to support the Nature Premium idea allowing them to make their own interpretation of nature, without complicating the issue by locking their understanding of the Nature Premium into ‘a brand’ which inevitably will be limited by you can do this, you can’t do that.
As an idea the Nature Premium is open to interpretation. This supports the ‘autonomy and innovation’ required of schools by the DfE.
