Wildflowers seeds for every primary school class in honour of the Coronation

All state-funded primary schools will be sent wildflower seeds to mark the King’s Coronation.

The government-funded project was inspired by the King’s love of nature and aims to encourage children to learn about and improve the biodiversity of school’s green spaces, while making them nicer places to work and learn, whilst supporting their mental and physical wellbeing.

In a collaboration between the Department for Education and the Eden Project, over 200,000 seed packets will be sent to schools, representing 40 hectares of new wildflower areas being planted up across England to support our pollinators.

If planted together, that would create around 40 rugby-pitch-sized wildflowers meadows – a small but vital step in boosting biodiversity.

To support schools in celebrating the Coronation, the Department for Education has also commissioned a series of lesson plans and other teaching materials for primary and secondary schools to explain the significance of this historical moment.

The charity Living Paintings has also designed, created and published a pack of tactile and audio resources that will enable blind and partially sighted children to learn about the Coronation, and the Eden Project has also created free lesson resources for schools and families to learn how to make eco-decorations for their Coronation celebrations using natural objects found in their surrounding green spaces.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “Giving children the opportunity to plant wildflowers will not only make school grounds more attractive, it will also help the next generation understand the importance of improving our biodiversity, while celebrating His Majesty The King’s love of nature.

“To help young people understand the historical significance of the Coronation, we have also asked two history teachers and curriculum experts to produce lesson plans and other materials about the coronation and the history of the monarchy, which we are sending to schools.”

Dan James, Development Director for the Eden Project said: “It is crucial that we replenish our biodiversity across the UK – and even small steps can make a difference.

“Through the work of National Wildflower Centre, Eden Project works with organisations across the UK with projects to make new wildflower habitats that support wildlife and connect people to the natural world. This is a fantastic opportunity for the next generation to see the impact that wildflowers can have, even in small spaces.

“By encouraging our children to plant wildflower seeds we can work towards reversing the decline of pollinators that we are seeing across the UK which is so important for our future.”

The packets of seeds include native annual wildflower species; cornflower, corn poppy, corn chamomile, corncockle, corn marigold and night-flowering catchfly, which if sown this spring, will be in bloom this summer.

The wildflowers will provide food for a wide range of insects including bees, butterflies and other pollinators in school grounds across England.

Each seed packet covers around 2 square metres of blue, white, purple, red and yellow flowers that can be planted in pots, beds or borders to boost colour and biodiversity in school grounds across England.