Kew Gardens launches Endeavour

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew today launches a brand new, free digital learning platform for primary and secondary education funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the £15.6m grant towards the Temperate House Project. Bringing world-leading plant science and horticulture to the classroom, Endeavour offers teachers and pupils opportunities to gain a greater understanding of plants and fungi and to explore the pressing environmental issues facing our planet.

A tool for teachers

Endeavour has been written by teachers, for teachers, and is an interactive platform that can be used to deliver Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 curricula. Based on in-depth research, the platform supports the communication of plant science and facilitates the ongoing formative assessment and measurement of pupils’ learning.

Engaging challenges encourage critical thinking about topics related to plants, science and the environment, and include everything needed to deliver a dynamic, pupil-led session. Showcasing the application of science in real life, content has been expertly curated to build pupils’ STEM knowledge and Science Capital.  Through peer and self-assessment, Endeavour supports pupils to cultivate transferable life skills while also illuminating career pathways.

From writing speeches and designing comic strips that illustrate the threats faced by endangered species, to creating maps and fact files for intrepid plant hunters, Endeavour lives up to its namesake by encouraging pupils to explore creative channels for all types of learning. Infographics, videos, quizzes and presentations are just a selection of the complementary resources available online.

Accessible to all

Endeavour aims to bring Kew into every classroom in the UK. A free, online resource, signing up to the platform is simple, and materials required for the tasks and challenges have everyday, readily available classroom objects in mind. Endeavour equips teachers with the tools to deliver lessons on a host of useful and relevant topics, with access to Kew’s leading, authoritative knowledge and research at their fingertips.

Endeavour will also run competitions that schools can enter to win prizes, and gain recognition for engaging pupils with contemporary questions about sustainable development and safeguarding the environment.

Julia Willison, Head of Learning and Participation at Kew, says:

“For over 20 years, schools have been visiting the Gardens to enjoy hands-on inquiry-based sessions that are linked to the national curriculum and to Kew's science. Through Endeavour we can share our resources and expertise with teachers and pupils throughout the UK; helping to inspire young champions for plants and the environment as well as the next generation of plant scientists.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Endeavour is so named after the 1768 voyage of the HMS Endeavour, which this year celebrates its 250-year anniversary. Sir Joseph Banks – Kew’s first unofficial director – under whose oversight Kew Gardens flourished as centre of botanical research, was a young scientist onboard the voyage. Together with friend and colleague Daniel Solander, Banks collected more than 1,000 species of plant previously unknown in Europe, launching his career as world-renowned botanist.

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The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding collections as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international and a top London visitor attraction. Kew’s 132 hectares of landscaped gardens, and Wakehurst, Kew’s Wild Botanic Garden, attract over 2.1 million visits every year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. Wakehurst is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. Kew receives approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needed to support Kew’s vital work comes from donors, membership and commercial activity including ticket sales.