Suzanne Welch Email and Phone Number

Develop strategy and targets for work with formal education sector and families; stakeholder engagement and external partnership development; managing the daily operations and the duties of the employees and volunteers to provide educational resources and experiences to schools and families throughout the UK. -Establishing strong networks and partnerships with internal teams and external organisations to create more opportunities to achieve the business objectives -Facilitating leadership of Education Policy work and associated partnerships -Evaluating performance and results of projects and programmes and encouraging volunteer participation -Maintaining the RSPB’s Education database, providing training and development materials -Ensuring staff have the skills and knowledge to fulfil their role -Producing the EFY newsletter that highlights strategic priorities, current projects and the measurement and evaluation results Achievements -Engaging quarter of a million pupils per year in RSPBs offers-Collaborated with internal & external colleagues to review, develop and implement the RSPB Families Strategy-Managed the review of education and family resources to ensure they are accessible. Supporting ways of working with staff who are neurodiverse ensuring team thrives and feel valued. -Provided expert support to national and international external organisations in developing education strategies and projects -Forward for the handbook on the One World Learning (OWL) website. -Appointed as Expert Panellist for the EU funded global project “Lifelong Learning through Nature”-Received 4* award;Teach Primary Awards for RSPB’s Wild Challenge Award -Presented at First World Forum on Nature Conservation in China. Delivered training to the WWF Chinese Environmental Education sector-Invited to provide expert insights supporting validation of a new flexible and inclusive Master of Science Degree in Outdoor Environmental Education at the University of Hertfordshire

Almost £3 million funding from Aldi allowed the RSPB to deliver an extensive programme of work.Working in schools and local green spaces the programme put children in touch with the nature on their doorstep. The aim of the project was to spark an interest in the benefits of Learning Outside the Classroom and for families to simply engage with local nature around them.As projects executive I was accountable for the Schools engagement through outreach and reserve visits, and the Monitoring and Evaluation to assess the impact of the schools outreach programme. The programme delivered connection to nature experiences to over half a million children across England, Scotland and Wales with the Education elements developed to include:1. Schools outreach - staff and volunteers across 17 British cities visiting primary schools to deliver exciting nature experiences that reflected the needs of the curriculum.2. The development and delivery of an Early Years outreach programme to children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (0-5yrs).3. Development of an online awards scheme ‘Wild Challenge’ which provides interactive digital resources available for schools and families across the UK. Schools and families can get involved anywhere, anytime, any place –experiencing nature and providing homes for nature themselves, and receive-an award in recognition. We have also developed an online bank of educational resources available to all schools.

Leading a national education team that delivers the society’s targets with its work with children and young people. Aiming to deepen children's connection to nature and supporting action to save itInitiating inspiring opportunities for children to experience wildlife in school, with their family and onlineDeveloping an early years offer for formal education settingsResponsible for learning outreach programmes and evaluating the impact of school’s engagement Supporting BirdLife partners international projects Achievements -Instigated the integration of graphing and data analysis into the RSPB’s Big Schools Birdwatch, moving all submissions online and developed audience led social media channels and communications that increased audience engagement-Helped secure £3mil in funding to support the organisation to deliver the Aldi programme which supported increased brand awareness by 22% through delivery to over 500,000 pupils and 23,000 educators and co-led the subsequent multi-million pound “Connecting Children with Nature” programme in partnership with Aldi -Placed as finalists in the “Early Years Education Resource Awards” and “APM Project Management Awards”-Created an online awards scheme for schools and families that enabled them to connect with, and take action for nature -Established strong audience led partnerships with the BBC, Twinkle, Children’s University and Eco Schools England -Worked with CBBC’s Live ‘n’ Deadly team, the Natural History Museum and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to produce a Teachers Pack and School Grounds Expedition Plan to engage and inspire young people to discover local wildlife -Appointed as the RSPB’s Approved Activity Provider Lead for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme -Managed the creative team consortium to deliver the Green Talent initiative aimed at 14 to 19 year olds-Development and delivery of RSPB’s internal ‘Valuing children as visitors’ course

Led an RSPB creative team within a consortium (led by the Eden Project, with core partners Kew and RSPB) to set up and piloted a new initiative, Green Talent, for young people aged 14-19.The Green Talent pilot programme was conceived to link the environment, sustainability and skills together with future business requirements to create a significant change in the understanding of young people, their perceptions and to influence their future actions.

 Collaborating in the development of communications, research and actions to achieve systemic changes in how children are educated in nature and to influence educational and learning policies  Initiating strategies to ensure that each child has the statutory right to access high quality nature education

Natural Environment Sector of Providers to the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) is a group of around 50 organisations serving three high-level functions Sharing and networking (‘amongst’), information, ideas and best practice A representation of the voice of the sector (‘outward’)Receiving and disseminating (‘inward’)

SaddleAid design, make and promote special saddles to help carry the disabled, sick, injured, elderly or pregnant women. Working in the UK and worldwide.

Assuring quality standards of teaching, learning and safety through assessment and verification of organisations providing Learning Ouside the Classroom.

https://www.globe.gov/ Planning and co-ordinating all national and international projects related to the GLOBE programme in the UK, including the training of teachers for GLOBE teacher qualification. Development and production new educational materials and resources for teachers and students, including activities relating to Climate Change, biodiversity, sustainability and other environmental issues.An active participant in GLOBE international conferences and Train the Trainer delivery

Supervision, training and development of Education staff and volunteers, including on site supervision of Warwickshire County Council Forest School Co-ordinator. To ensure the development and production of educational offers, materials and resources relevant to student and school needs including the provision of high quality Planning, Preparation and Assessment time (PPA) cover. Additionally, to liaise with, and develop programmes in line with LEA Out Of School Hours requirements eg. After school clubs, gifted & talented summer school, SAT’s boosters, Children’s University modules (CU) and University of the First Age (UFA) training and activities

DEFRA funded:To review survey procedures within the OSPAR region, develop and implement a port sampling programme. Provide a baseline record of the occurrence, distribution and abundance of alien species in major UK ports and harbours and evaluate their present status. Develop recommendations for the structure of future monitoring programmes with regard to OSPAR and IMO requirements and suggest areas for future monitoring.

Developing and running programmes which promote a deeper understanding of the river and link directly to the National Curriculum programmes of study Key stages 1 – 4, including GCSE investigations and A level including; Fieldwork, education packs and resources for teachers, teacher training and new site development. Subject areas included Science, geography, archaeology and history, with cross-curricular themes such as water and the environment. In addition to this I also developed the Special Needs Project which was designed to provide better access to field studies for children who had hearing and visual, physical and learning difficulties. I also set up and ran a sampling programme to monitor river invertebrates.

A residential centre providing adventurous activities, I.T.C., geography, science and environmental based studies for school groups. My role was setting up the Education and Environmental department at the new Isle of Wight centre. Additional responsibilities to those below included, customer care management, all staffing issues for the centre, training for activity and environmental staff. Preparation of educational material and interactive displays

Training of staff in all courses offered, from Key stage 1 - 4, A level & PGCE. Course development and presentation. Liaison with teachers, timetables, staffing, appraisals, stock ordering.

Working with Key stage 1 - 4, and A level, teaching Coastal processes and management, Woodland & rocky shore ecology, Wetlands, Heathlands, River processes and ecology, and human geography, relevant to syllabus requirements.

Voluntary work with groups of students of various ages, including University students in a National Nature Reserve surrounded by one of the largest concentrations of heavy industry in Britain. Habitats courses taught included sand dunes, sandy and rocky shores, intertidal mudflats, freshwater and saltmarsh.

From a Residential Child Care Officer to Deputy Manager in one of the largest residential centres in the county for young people in the care of the local authority.This involved all aspects of child care, team management, petty cash returns, maintenance of buildings and supplies and liaison with other professionals and families. During this time I went to college part time and gained my qualifications as a Social Worker.