Back to school: Head of the National Education Nature Park visits former primary school

Jess visited Grove Park Primary School in West London, where she used to be a pupil. She was joined by her colleague and friend Helen Whitehouse who also attended the school and is now Chief Operating Officer at the Natural History Museum, the lead partner delivering the Nature Park.

We had such a warm welcome back to our beloved primary school where I have such fond memories of the teachers, friends, outdoor spaces, trips to the Thames and local parks. I was so pleased to see lots of space left for nature and spotted several ladybirds and bees at home there. The school's environment and curriculum really helped me feel connected to nature, and I was delighted to see how much all the current pupils are also interested in wildlife and what we can do for our planet. 

Jess Tipton, Head of the National Education Nature Park

On the visit, they delivered a Year 6 careers talk and had a tour of the school by house captains Oscar and Lila. They also delivered assemblies to KS1 and KS2 pupils about nature at Grove Park in the past and nowadays, including the popular Nature Park Points of view activity where you imagine you’re a creature like a worm or butterfly on the school site. The school has a wildlife area right in the middle of the building that you walk past all the time, has created lots more new spaces for nature and put up nesting boxes for endangered swifts. There is lots of work up on the walls connected to nature and all the classes now have tree names (and house names are the forests where you find those trees!) as a tribute to the school's logo. The headteacher also mentioned that they've had other visitors in to talk to the children about local wildlife and how we can cohabit with urban wildlife like foxes and squirrels.  

I really enjoyed the careers talk - I found it reassuring that they found a subject that combined all their interests. It was fascinating and inspiring

Lila, House Captain

It was a real privilege to welcome Jess & Helen back to Grove Park. Their message was powerful: that nature needs us, and even the smallest actions by young people can make a difference. Our Grove-Parkers were truly inspired — not only by Jess and Helen’s amazing careers at the Natural History Museum - but by the idea that as children and future adults, they too, have a role to play. A perfect example of our school motto in action: Inspiring Each Other.

Rachel Davies, Grove Park headteacher 

Jess and Helen’s visit is one of many taking place across the country this week from staff working on programmes commissioned or supported as part of the Department for Education Sustainability and Climate Change strategy: National Education Nature Park; Climate Ambassadors and Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisers; and Sustainability Support for Education. The free support from these four programmes can be used together to bring about a multitude of wellbeing, learning and environmental benefits, and support settings with the development of their Climate Action Plans. 

More than 8,000 settings, nearly half those in England, have already worked with the DfE support programmes developing simple but effective solutions to improve biodiversity, reduce their carbon footprint, improve climate education for young people and better prepare for the kind of extreme weather experienced in England over the summer.  

Jess will also visit Drake Primary School in the East of England as part of this series of visits to hear about the progress of their Climate Action Plan, which they’ve developed with support from across the DfE programmes. 

It was really nice to show Jess and Helen around because they knew the school from 40 years ago! They also had so many interesting facts about the Natural History Museum, which were quite striking to me - like having 80 million objects at the Museum!

Oscar, House Captain