At the beginning of June, Lough Erne Landscape Partnership (LELP) launched their Co. Fermanagh-based education portal, 'Education Without Walls', to a room filled with teachers, natural heritage education providers and representatives from the Department of Education.

This unique new learning platform encourages teachers to remove the walls from their classroom and facilitate outdoor learning, achieving the outcomes of the National Curriculum while focusing on and learning about the unique species and habitats found in Co. Fermanagh.

Available at www.lelp.org.uk/education, this online resource currently hosts 54 structured lesson plans, and a plethora of supporting activities and also links to educational resources from natural heritage education partners that is categorised into age ranges of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3.

It is free to access and designed for anyone to use including teachers, education providers, parents, or community groups.

LELP lesson plans and resources have been carefully crafted by Tony Smith, the LELP Environmental Education Officer, with the intent of creating a connection between learners and their local environment, to inspire a new generation of young amateur naturalists who will learn to love and care for our unique Fermanagh landscape, biodiversity and natural wildlife.

Many other organisations and groups have worked with LELP to provide additional content and access to wider learning materials, which are now available to educators in one place.

This online resource, coupled with physical educational resources that can be accessed through the LELP Community Hub and Equipment Library, will make it easier than ever for teachers and educators to provide outdoor natural heritage education to children in Fermanagh.

The Education Without Walls platform is a working webpage which will continue to grow and LELP invite anyone who has any additional resources or lesson plans to add, to send them to info@lelp.org.uk.

The development of this resource has been made possible with support and funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Elmarie Swanepoel, Programme Manager from LELP, said: "We are really pleased to have launched this important portal of Fermanagh-focused educational resources.

"It is well recognised that spending time in the outdoors has many benefits for children, and that learning in the outdoors will create lasting connections with the landscape that will help people care for and protect the natural environment for years to come.

"We are very grateful for the support from our partner organisations who have already shared their resources, which has helped to enrich the available content."

Dr. Paul Mullan, NI Director from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support the Lough Erne Landscape Partnership project, which thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, is providing opportunities for more people to get involved with and learn about the exciting heritage of Lough Erne.

"These digitally accessible resources will provide many more opportunities for outdoor learning and connecting with nature and the local landscape. Congratulations to all involved in curating this valuable resource.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), said: “DAERA acknowledges the fact that grant support through the Environment Fund has made a difference to the environmental curriculum and nature and habitat study around the Lough Erne area.

"This is an example of the type of community project which the Department is pleased to support through the Fund.”