A NEW British Wool educational website has been launched by the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) aimed at giving school-age children an opportunity to learn more about wool and where it comes from.
Developed with an educational website company, the emphasis is on making the subject fun, informative and easily accessible.
The BWMB has always engaged with schools and colleges but in recent years, due to the way that primary schools have to meet rigid curriculums, it found that the subject of wool was becoming confined to art and craft lessons.
Enquiries to the BWMB’s head office in Bradford showed that schools generally wanted things to do with wool, such as felting kits, rather than encouraging the learning about wool, where it comes from and why it is good for people and the planet.
On further investigation with teachers it seemed there was no real place for the subject within the key stages of the primary curriculum.
Developing the new website has enabled the sheep farmer-owned organisation to tailor the subject to fit in with the schools.
“We felt that with over 50,000 sheep farms in the UK and up to 30 million kilos of wool available annually, we needed to be engaging with young people about wool at a stage when they would be receptive to the whole story," said Tim Booth, marketing manager.
“By simply adapting our approach we are able to introduce sheep and wool in to maths, science and geography.
"Primary school teachers will find this a very good package, with plenty of lesson plans, quizzes, fact sheets and projects for the children to learn with.”
The website, developed with teachers, is interactive, meaning it can be used on whiteboards, computers and tablets and offers resources to promote better understanding of the whole British Wool story from the sheep in the field to the finished product.
Mr Booth added, “Ultimately, children are the future consumers - they need to grow up with the knowledge that real home-grown wool is the best choice in lots of ways.”
Educational sheets and teaching notes are available for download from the new website - BritishWoolLearning.com
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