The National Marine Aquarium is launching an impressive series of home learning sessions for children all across the UK from tomorrow.
With schools having been forced to close their doors due to England’s third national lockdown amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, children up and down the country have once again reverted to home learning programmes, leaving parents often searching for new and innovative ways to keep the little ones occupied and educated at the same time.
This is why the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth is keen “to make sure we are doing our bit to support the thousands of students and teachers that connect with our charity each year” through providing live-streamed sessions.
According to the aquarium, research has shown that encounters with marine environments (physical or virtual) have a powerful effect on our emotional state and general wellbeing, and with the country in lockdown, there’s never been a more important time to ensure everyone has access to “a weekly dose of ocean”.
The National Marine Aquarium’s Home Learning Sessions are completely free, and will be streamed live to homes across the UK through YouTube every Friday starting tomorrow, until 26th February.
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They are the perfect way to “round your week off with a bang, or help you wind down for the weekend”.
Well, first up is the weekly ‘Deep Science’ lessons – aimed at KS2 Primary School-aged children – which will see aquarium teachers meet some of the centre’s amazing animals, as well as stopping in at the AquaLab to explore the science behind the animated ocean exploration TV series The Deep – which is on CBBC every weekday at 12pm during lockdown.
Every Friday at 1pm – 1:20pm, you can expect to learn some fascinating facts and watch real-time experiments, as well as being provided with some curriculum-linked ideas to follow up with at home.
Tomorrow’s session is intriguingly titled ‘Underwater Volcanoes’, with other sessions set to include:
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22nd January – Creature Classification
29th January – Nautical Navigation
5th February – Ocean Mysteries
12th February – Megafauna
19th February – Life Cycles
26th February – Looking After The Ocean
Looking for something for the little ones instead? Fancy meeting a real mermaid?
The ‘Mermaid Tales’ sessions – geared towards Early Years-aged children – let you do just that, as the National Marine Aquarium’s resident mermaid Marina will read a short story to everybody tuned in, and the sessions will be live-streamed every Friday at 1:30pm – 1:45pm, it’s the perfect timing before an afternoon nap, or as a gentle, relaxing start to the afternoon.
National Marine Aquarium
Each of the Home Learning Sessions will also help children to feel part of the start of the global UN ‘Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development’, and will assist with home learning, whilst also providing a chance for children and their parents and teachers to gain some of the wellbeing benefits that have been proven to come from watching aquatic life.
Speaking on the launch of the Home Learning Sessions, Nicola Bridge – Head of Conservation Education and Communications at the National Marine Aquarium – said: “Despite the continued COVID-related restrictions we are all under, our suite of accessible online resources will help those home schooling get access to valuable resources and interactive activities.
“The UK is a national and global leader in marine science, and we feel ocean related teaching should therefore be an essential part of the core curriculum offering and want to help facilitate that.
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“We also want to support parents and teachers in this difficult time for everyone.
“The ocean provides half of the oxygen we breathe, drives the weather and climate and is a valuable food source for much of the world, and to look after it for future generations, we need to create an ocean literate generation – that is to say, a generation that understands the ways in which we are all inextricably connected to it, just as it is to us.”
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You can find more about the Home Learning Sessions via the National Marine Aquarium website here, and access the sessions every Friday on YouTube here.
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A local Manc content creator is looking to set a world record by running around Old Trafford
Danny Jones
A local content creator, who specialises in running/hiking content (and sandwiches), is looking to raise money and potentially set a world record by jogging around Old Trafford.
Oh, and by jogging, we mean running – for a really, REALLY long time…
If you’ve never come across his channel before, let us introduce you to local influencer and videographer Sam Matthew, a.k.a. ‘Peaks and Pubs‘.
Boasting plenty of fans on both Instagram and TikTok within the world of trail running, the outdoors community and beyond, he’s set to toastreaching a very specific achievement by “turning a milestone into a mission” and doing laps around Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club.
As explained in the video, he’s now surpassed 74,310 followers, i.e. the same capacity of supporters you can fit inside the Theatre of Dreams itself.
We know, it’s distance running and feats of endurance aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are a great way of raising money and awareness, not to mention possibly getting yourself in the official Guinness Book of World Records.
Explaining the challenge in the caption of the video, Sam writes: “There’s now enough of you lot following this daft account of mine on here to fill a stadium I’ve adored since I was a little boy. And that genuinely means so much to me.
“So why not celebrate the occasion by punishing my legs and raising money for good causes along the way? Donations are, of course, the aim, but I understand that not everybody is in the position to do that, so any engagement on this post is hugely appreciated.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart that you lot genuinely make this all happen for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to do silly stuff like this on a random Wednesday [29 October]. Giving off pure ‘your unemployed friend on a Wednesday’ vibes, but I love it!”
Raising money for the club’s in-house Manchester United Foundation, which has already shown its support for the upcoming ultra-marathon distance event, they are also looking to generate crucial funds with the return of another annual charity event too.
The Foundation does some incredible work all year-round, if you’d rather swap running around Old Trafford for sleeping.
Once again, Sam will be kicking off the serious step-count from approximately 9am this Wednesday (28 Oct), he’s estimating it’ll take him around a whopping nine and a half hours, “with plenty of breaks for food and fluids”, thank god.
As the man behind most of the Bada Bing videos, we expect plenty of butties to fuel the running.
Furthermore, although he’s set to take on the distance solo for the morning, he’s invited as many people who fancy getting involved to come and join him for a lap or two from 12 noon onwards; hopefully, he’ll see the Guinness people popping along to see if he registers a world record while he’s at it, too.
We hope there are a few pints at the pub waiting for you at the end, as always, Sam.
Featured Images — Peaks and Pubs (supplied)/The Manc Group
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A live Shaun the Sheep stage show and circus is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Brace yourselves, because one of the best fun-for-all-ages events is coming to Manchester: the official Shaun the Sheep stage and circus show is coming to Factory International.
This isn’t just one to keep the children entertained; we already know plenty of big kids who grew up on Shaun, Shirley, and the rest of the sheep are already thinking about grabbing tickets.
Created by Nick Park, the same man responsible for Wallace and Gromit, this live stage production and incredibly practical circus show of the beloved British cartoon is already critically acclaimed.
Now set to make its full European debut right here in our city, Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show teams up with leading performance company Circa to bring the TV show to life this winter.
‘It’s gonna be un-BAAA-leivable’.
Conceived not only by the award-winning minds at Aardman Animation, but the experienced performers at Circa, this ‘in the flesh’ (and wool) interpretation of the slapstick CBBC classic will not only delight younger audiences, but bring plenty of energy to keep the adults entertained too.
Promising a “live circus performance, simultaneously blurring the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus for a visual spectacle packed with wit”, you can expect acrobatics and circus skills.
Stunts will include the likes of tumbling, juggling, aerial hoop, aerial silks, trapeze, Spanish web and Chinese pole, just to name a few.
And, of course, there’ll be plenty of Aardman’s signature heartwarming comedy in W&G, Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas, Flushed Away and more.
Naturally, all the usual suspects will be on show to: Shaun, Bitzer, The Farmer and the rest of the Flock – and yes, in case the trailer didn’t give it away, they are people who are not just dressed up as adorable real-life lambs but bouncing, flipping and flying all over the stage.
Coming to Aviva Studios this festive period, it’ll be taking place in The Hall: one of the venue’s largest and most dynamic rooms, with the state-of-the-art building famously able to alter the size of individual stages and spaces depending on the event.
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Circa and Aardman to present the European premiere of this fun-filled show at our home in Aviva Studios.
“Circa presents award-winning circus performances to audiences across the globe, and their collaboration with Aardman Studios creates a unique offering for families, circus fans and everyone who loves Shaun the Sheep“
Running from Tuesday, 11 December 2025 until Sunday, 4 January 2026, they’ve also ensured affordable admission from just £10; you can grab your tickets now.
Emily Sergeant -
14th January 2021 
