Last Saturday, on “Don’t step on a bee day”, I was enjoying a morning coffee in the garden, watching the bees’ busying themselves around my lavender and I started to think about the contribution the humble bee had made to my morning cuppa. Did you know that 75% of crops for human consumption are pollinated by bees, I did not but I do now! Bees are very close to my heart particularly with my new role which involves supporting the Education Staffing Partnership and their partnership with the Bee1 project.
These little creatures make such a huge positive impact to our planet, if we do not protect them – who will? Our job is to educate everyone, so we are able to bring the bee population numbers back to where they were. Bee1 has been established to address the decline in pollinators both locally and globally and with bees now being declared the most important animals on the planet, whilst on the endangered species list, it’s time to ensure our younger generations are educated on their impact.
Bee 1 has a complete curriculum for primary school learners designed to help educate our younger school communities of the importance of our honeybee. Coupled with the opportunity for your school to own their own virtual beehive, make their own bee bombs, name their queen bee, and watch as their bee community establishes itself. The curriculum helps embed many important PSHE messages including sustainability, wellbeing, science, and the environment, such as the importance of green spaces and adequate forage to help support survival of our bees. Did you know the humble Bumble Bee in flight is only 45 minutes away from starvation?
One school already using the Bee1 curriculum is Gnoll Primary School. Led by Mr Harris, their Head Teacher, Gnoll Primary have been using the Bee 1 innovative curriculum and own their own hive.
So, whilst enjoying your coffee, as a gentle reminder, before you step on a bee, ask yourself this do you love flowers? Do you love fruit? Do you love vegetables? Do you love coffee and chocolate? Without that bee most of the above would quickly disappear without pollination, and bees are the world’s most prolific pollinators.
And as our resident Beekeeper, Mark Douglas would say “how much do bees charge us for all of the work they do for the human race?”
If your school would like to know more or are keen to own your own virtual beehive then contact us . The Education Staffing Partnership are sponsoring this important project and our sister partner, Thirsty Scholars Partnership is hosting the materials on their platform.