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New tool for schools to learn the story of wool ; wool [Newcastle Journal (England)](Newcastle Journal (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ANEW British Wool Educational website has been launched by the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) aimed at giving schoolage children an opportunity to learn more about wool, where it comes from and its benefits. Developed with an educational website company, the emphasis is on making the subject fun, informative and easily accessible. The British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) has always engaged with schools and colleges but in recent years, due to the way that primary schools have to meet rigid curriculums, they found that the subject of wool was becoming confined to art and craft lessons. Inquiries 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 and where it comes from. On further investigation with teachers it seemed that there was no real place for the subject within the key stages of the primary curriculum. Developing this new website has enabled the sheep farmer-owned organisation to tailor the subject to fit in with the schools. Marketing manager Tim Booth said: "We felt that with more than 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. "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 fully interactive, making it perfect for use 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. Tim 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 at www.BritISHWOOLLEARNING.com Primary school teachers will find this a very good package with plenty of lesson plans, quizzes and projectsTim Booth (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |