With Boys in Mind

Published: Monday, 3 March 2025

With Boys in Mind is an outdoor play project from Nottingham City Council, in collaboration with Greg Bottrill.

This initiative is a collaboration of high quality, evidence–informed approaches and expertise which has been designed to address the growing gender gap in Nottingham City EYFSP data.

We are looking for 50 early years settings or schools in Nottingham City to take part in this fully funded project to develop Adventure Island at their setting and monitor the impact this has on engagement and attainment.  The aim is to support practitioners develop learning and language through effective outdoor play, which provokes wonder and stimulates imagination. The project will support all learners, but will have a particular focus on developing opportunities to engage boys in their learning to enable them to achieve.

Running from May to September 2025, the project includes:

• Three face to face sessions with Greg Bottrill
•  Access to Adventure Island and Happy Talk resources
• CPD for participants who will discover how to breathe new life into outdoor play and develop children’s imaginations to raise engagement and attainment in a way which is flexible and adaptable for any timetable
• Opportunities to share feedback to help us understand your experiences and measure children’s engagement in the project.

For further details, please read this Information Leaflet.

If you would like to take part in this amazing opportunity, please register your interest before Wednesday 2nd April 2025 by completing this form.

If you have any further questions, please contact jane.harding@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or caroline.vissani@nottinghamcity.gov.uk