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Doing Brilliant Biology and Ecology Fieldwork in your School Grounds

Abstract

Join us for a free in-person twilight (after school) workshop on Tuesday 29 April 2025, 4:30-6:30pm at the Cherwell School for practitioners and educators engaged or interested in organising biology field trips, making use of their own school grounds.

There are so many good reasons to take your students outside – gaining a different perspective on the subject, building their enthusiasm for it, improving manual dexterity, developing practical problem solving skills, supporting their mental health and wellbeing, and enhancing your relationship with them. But biology field trips can be expensive, and time consuming. So what if you could gain some of the same benefits in your own school grounds – however “grey” they might seem?

This in-person workshop at The Cherwell School in Oxford, led by nature education practitioner and researcher Dr Kim Polgreen, and colleagues from Oxford University and local schools, will discuss biology field trips to your own school grounds. We will look at opportunities, risks, techniques, and equipment. It will give biology teachers the opportunity to learn some new skills, share their own tips and techniques with others, and have a fun couple of hours in Cherwell’s new ecology garden with a cup of tea and biscuits.

Bio

Ellie Chanarin is an experienced secondary school science teacher who firmly believes in the power of education, the positive influence of nature and in the inspiration that young people can bring. As the sustainability lead in her school, Ellie is working to increase their site biodiversity and the experiences their students gain in their education on climate change, nature and the climate and nature crisis.

Dr Kim Polgreen is an Honorary Norham Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, and an independent sustainability educator. Kim has a DPhil in Biochemistry and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University. She worked in business for 25 years, as a sustainability consultant, and as CEO of an education and educational publishing company. Based in Oxford, Kim now runs sustainability learning projects with local schools, and an annual Sustainability Summer School for 15 – 18-year-olds at the Environmental Change Institute in the School of Geography and Environment at Oxford University. Read Kim’s full bio here.

Jenny Wynn has extensive experience of successful teaching of secondary science in schools and a strong track record of teaching and leading Initial Teacher Education (ITE), including being Programme Leader of the Secondary PGCE at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln for 10 years and previously contributing to the wider sector as Chair of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) in England PGCE Secondary Forum and member of the UCET Executive.