Benefits of a Nature Premium

• Improvement of children’s mental wellbeing outcomes – saving short-term cost of mental health interventions that have developed during lockdown.
• Encouraging higher levels of physical activity, addressing obesity levels that developed during lockdown.
• Building vitamin D levels and children’s immune systems, to help fight viruses.
• Reconnecting children and staff to nature, reducing stress levels.
• Reconnecting over 4,727,090 children to nature; children’s experience with nature is varied, with almost 25% spending time outside less than once a month.
• Benefiting ethnic minority children (33% average in primary schools), improving their health and encouraging diversity in countryside experiences.
• The likely return of investment.  OECD research shows that investment in early years/ primary age has a greater return than in secondary education.
• Helping children manage their own safety, understand the importance of hygiene, prevent cross-contamination and play within their coronavirus safety bubble.
• Enabling schools to bring in Forest School / Outdoor Learning experts who can facilitate nature connection  and contact.  The expertise exists in the outdoor education and conservation industry.
• Enabling good quality Outdoor Learning to start immediately rather than putting pressure on teachers to go through additional training.  This is an immediate solution to the staff capacity problem.
• Supporting teaching outside to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.
• It is in line with Natural England and Defra research and policies.
• It is in line with the Chief Medical Officer’s statements and medical research.

Medium Term Benefits

• Enabling Head Teachers to support Outdoor Learning and all its benefits avoiding difficult either/or decisions because of limited resources.
• Providing opportunities to access existing local outdoor learning provision and residential courses.
• The improvement of vulnerable children’s mental wellbeing outcomes – reducing the investment required for existing conditions.
• Encouraging higher levels of physical activity, addressing obesity levels that are the result of deprivation and lifestyle.
• Fulfilling a curriculum requirement from the Ofsted framework to create an enriched curriculum.
• Improving levels of children’s creativity; a PISA criterium for 2021-22.
• Compatibility with the government published A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment.  
• Compatibility with Natural England and Defra research and policies. 

Long Term Benefits

• Building children’s understanding of how they fit into the British countryside.
• Building children’s knowledge of environmental issues and how they can care for their local community and the planet.  
• Building the knowledge base of educators and children around biodiversity and the management of nature rich school grounds.
• Building a generation that can develop the economic value of the UK wildlife and countryside.
• Preparing students to study the new GCSE in natural history.
• Preparing a generation that will want to contribute to the National Nature Service.
• Preparing a generation that wants to work in green industries in the environmental sector.
• Showing commitment to the UN Sustainable Development goals.
• Setting a gold standard for education at an international level.