Zippy's Friends launched in northern England

The expansion of Zippy's Friends has continued with the launch of the programme in County Durham in north eastern England. A training course for teachers was organised in January and classes are now underway in ten schools across the county.
Durham Cathedral

With its famous cathedral (Picture: Katharine Gawthrop) and prestigious university, the city of Durham is a thriving centre. Durham County itself is very widespread and the Local Education Authority is responsible for a total of over 300 schools within four divisions.

Ann Nelson, Associate Inspector for Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education and the person who brought Zippy's Friends to the county, says: 'A great deal of consideration was given to the selection of the ten pilot schools. It was important to choose schools from all the four divisions in the county, with a mix of large, small, urban, rural and faith schools. It was vital to see how Zippy would work with children with very different experiences, both at school and at home.'
Durham County Council Crest

This first pilot programme is being evaluated by Durham Local Education Authority (right), to assess its impact on the children who take part. Ann says that, if the programme is to expand across the county, schools will need to be assured of its value.

'I'm not prepared to put anything into schools if it's only moderate,' she says. 'Children only have one chance at education and it's essential we give them the very best.'

The scope for expansion is considerable, with 265 primary schools across the county.

'I hope that within a few years every child who is in Key Stage 2 (seven to 11 year olds) will have experienced Zippy's Friends,' says Ann. 'We need to build this into the curriculum because we want children to be able to cope. Something may happen when they are older, but if they have the resilience built up from an early age they'll be better able to deal with the problem. This programme provides a very good foundation.'

Teachers who attended the training course in January were enthusiastic. Of the ten who completed feedback forms, nine rated the training as excellent and one rated it good. And a number of teachers made the same comment - 'Can't wait to get started!'

Stephen Jones, a teacher who is co-ordinating Zippy's Friends in Durham, gave a very helpful presentation, showing how the programme covers many of the curriculum objectives for this age group. He also suggested cross-curricular links between the programme and subjects such as literacy, numeracy, geography and science.

Ann Nelson, an experienced teacher herself, reports that children find Zippy (left) very appealing. 'This stick insect has taken over, even though he dies and even though the stories are about his friends, not about him. He really grabs the children's attention, they love characters like this.'


Although she does not want to pre-judge the results of the evaluation of the programme, Ann says with a smile that she has little doubt as to the outcome.
'I know in my heart that children are going to benefit from this.'

> Find out more about education in Durham