Why Do Schools Need a Nature Premium?
The Nature Premium would help children recover from lockdown and set them up to learn.
Our children need to Grow up Greener.
The benefit of time spent in nature to children’s mental and physical well-being has been demonstrated by government research.
We are asking Rishi Sunak MP (Prime Minister), Jeremy Hunt MP (Chancellor), Steve Barclay MP (Sec. of State for Health), Gillian Keegan MP (Sec. of State for Education) and Michael Gove MP (Sec. of State for Levelling Up) to make the evidence-informed, economic and political decision to support a Nature Premium for early years and school children.
“We believe that the Nature Premium would improve children’s mental and physical wellbeing after lockdown and demonstrate a positive investment in their future development as part of the green recovery.”
~ Sarah Lawfull, Chair of the Forest School Association and Nature Premium Campaigner
Covid-19 lockdown has highlighted the inequalities of access to nature. This is not a new phenomenon(1), but one which now, more than ever, needs addressing.
Time in nature is crucial for children’s mental and physical wellbeing: the benefits are far-reaching and well-documented(2,3,4). 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 (5,6). Other benefits include better resilience, improvements in social functioning and social inclusion(2). Its benefits for physical wellbeing are critical too, obesity affects around 1 in every 5 children aged 10 to 11 in the UK (7) and in 2014-15, the NHS spent an estimated £6.1 billion on overweight and obesity-related ill health(8).
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 (9). Wildlife Trust research also found that natural environments can play a key role in increasing physical activity levels(2). It could be that not all children enjoy organised games and team competition, playing in a nature rich environment is more inclusive.
Prior to lockdown, there was already a mental health crisis in the UK(10) and the probability of this crisis now being exacerbated is high(11). It is not unreasonable to anticipate, as we emerge from lockdown, that children will experience high levels of stress, anxiety and withdrawal as a result of prolonged isolation(12).