The Nature Premium is led by a diverse group of volunteers with a common passion for the benefits of outdoor education.
You can learn more about who is involved in our Steering Group and Core Team below.
We are always keen to hear from anyone who has skills, experiences or expertise to contribute to the campaign.
If you’d like to join The Nature Premium Campaign, contact us.
Steering Group
Dr Sara Collins
Nature Premium Campaign Co-Founder and Lead
I’m a self-employed biologist, Accredited Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Forest School Practitioner. While working in schools I have realised that children today do not explore the natural world as I did when I was their age. They don’t have simple experiences that would open up a world of beauty and awe or would inspire green career choices. During Lockdown 1 it became apparent that there is an inequity of access to nature for some children in addition to the lack of experiences that the majority of children miss out on. The Nature Premium is a simple idea that could transform a generation and help children grow up greener.
Sarah Lawfull
Co-Chair of Steering Group / Co-Founder of the Nature Premium Campaign / Chair of Forest School Association
Through teaching, parenting, voluntary youth work and Forest School training I have come to understand that children need nature and nature needs children. For young people to grow up happy, healthy and hopeful requires regular opportunities to play and learn in, through, from, about, and as, nature. Education is the best route to change outcomes for an individual, a community, a nation and the global population, both human and non-human. I believe the Nature Premium will ensure that younger generations learn to live in harmony with the natural world, in line with the UNSDGs, and bring their green skills to solve the problems previous generations have created.
Jo Barnett
CEO – Institute for Outdoor Learning
Abigail Hopper
Headteacher - Nightingale Primary School, Hackney
As a Headteacher of an Urban Primary school, I have seen first-hand the impact that being out in nature has on my pupils. They find peace and joy in the outdoors and it allows them to build their social skills and learn to solve problems for themselves. Crucially, they also build an affinity with the natural world and through this a much deeper commitment to protecting the environment as they move through their lives. The impact of making this available to every child cannot be underestimated.
Amy Arnold
Working in education for over 25 years I have seen the enormous benefits that being immersed in nature brings to children, of all ages.
Nature instantly ignites children's sense of wonder and joy, and brings about a sense of calm and stillness that is often impossible to find in a fast paced every increasing digital environment. Each child has their own unique journey and path of discovery inspired by nature, with differing thoughts, hypotheses and questions linked to what the natural world is showing at that moment.
Spending time in and with nature clearly boosts children's physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual health and in turn this permeates through other areas of their lives.
Each and every child deserves access to nature, instilling a love and appreciation to protect and cherish our planet for generations to come.
Anthony Mcgeeney
Headteacher - Galley Hill Primary School
The Nature Premium promotes regular nature experiences for students, enhancing both learning and well-being. For headteachers, it offers a flexible framework to integrate outdoor activities, from gardening to Forest School, tailored to each school's unique setting and needs. Beyond academic enrichment, nature exposure boosts mental and physical health. The Department for Education's emphasis on school autonomy aligns seamlessly with this initiative, allowing schools to innovate while achieving key outcomes. By adopting the Nature Premium, headteachers can ensure a holistic education, fostering environmentally-aware, healthy students, and enriching their school's curriculum.
Becky Wilkinson
Learning and Outreach Manager - Royal Forestry Society
We have never needed the Nature Premium more. Our world is facing a climate crisis and our children and young people are facing a crisis in their mental health. Equipping schools to connect with the opportunities that nature presents to us helps to address both of these crises.
Hannah Jones McVey
'Too many children do not have a connected, curious, and confident relationship with nature, to the detriment of their health, happiness and ability to become the future generation that our planet needs. Through my career with the Wildlife Trust, National Trust, Teach First and now The Country Trust I have witnessed these transformational moments and their subsequent benefits again and again. Parity of support to be, learn and explore in nature should be a foundation stone in our society, but isn’t. Nature Premium would be a huge step in making this happen. But to ensure these are within reach of all children we need action to ensure access to nature becomes a cornerstone of every child’s school experience. '
Jo Phillips
Impact Communications – Core Nature Premium Team
Karen Letten
Schools and Communities Engagement Manager - The Woodland Trust
Karen Letten is Schools Engagement Manager at the Woodland Trust and leads the Trust’s UK programme for schools, inspiring schools about woods and trees. Responsible for creating the Trust’s Green Tree Schools Award that now has over 14K UK schools registered. This follows a career spanning over 20 years working in engagement, environmental & sustainable development education and outdoor learning largely in the charity sector but also in local government. She believes passionately that children and young people, whatever their background should learn firsthand about the amazing benefits of woods and trees and nature. This is why the Woodland Trust are supporting the Nature Premium campaign.
Mary Jackson
Head of Education and Communities - Learning through Landscapes
Mary Jackson is Head of Education and Communities at Learning through Landscapes (LtL). LtL is the national school grounds charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for all children and young people, through well-designed, nature-rich school grounds and the outdoor spaces of early years settings.
Our aims therefore strongly align with those of the Nature Premium initiative - that all children should have regular time in nature, with particular support for those who need it most, and believe that by working in partnership we can help to ensure that this becomes a reality for children and young people throughout the UK.
Matt Larsen Daw
CEO - The Mammal Society
Schools and colleges can act as ‘levellers’ to enable all young people to have a minimum level of nature experience, when the opportunities and encouragement they get at home may differ enormously. The Nature Premium campaign is a vital piece of the jigsaw puzzle to realise this potential, recognising that schools and colleges will have different barriers to overcome in order to bring nature into school life for students. A premium applied per pupil would allow schools to come up with a bespoke plan of action to ensure that each student has opportunities for positive first-hand nature experiences in a safe, supported and social environment.
Richard Dunne
CEO - The Harmony Project