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Our weekly blog moves to a Friday this year but once again it will, hopefully, give you a little insight into who we are, how we think and what we're doing.

Friday 9 May 2025.
Richard writes

Our School of the Air has been going for nearly four months now and, as with any new venture, you learn as you go and, unless you're a bit stupid, you make changes to improve things. That is how we do things. Firstly we have been blown away by the number of views our videos have been getting and the number of subscribers to our YouTube channel. We do not make a profit at all from our work so we are not dependent on viewers of our videos or visitors to our site. Obviously, as we seek to get a few sponsors to allow us to continue, such things matter to them but, for us, if just ten children were benefiting from what we do, we'd be happy and feel we have achieved one of our aims.

I spent several years at school, and later, studying statistics. I know how meaningless they can be. I know how easy it is to entice people to watch something that has no relevance and no benefit to them apart from, maybe, a short piece of entertainment or a pointless view into someone else's daily life. If that is what you want, if that is what they want, feel free to continue.

Our wish, though, is to try to give children a better start in life, and, here he goes again, arouse their curiosity, ignite their imagination and release their creativity. At the same time to make them more aware of the real world outside that tiny little screen that for some seems to be the be all and end of all in life.

I may just have spent three paragraphs saying a simple fact. Molly and I are very happy with how our School of the Air has been received and how it is being used. We are also happy with the rest of our website and how much benefit that can bring to learning.

Returning to paragraph one and I have to state that we are not stupid. This means that from next week we are making a few changes. Our Early Years material on Tuesdays and Thursday will stay as it has been from the start. Friday fun will also not change and Owlbutcast will spring onto your screens every other Tuesday to help young children make sense of what they may hear on the news (this maybe an almost impossible task but thank you to the person who said our edition about electing a new Pope was so accurate but made it all so simple).

That leaves Monday and Wednesday. Monday has seen us begin our virtual journey through the counties of England. As far as research and production are concerned it is, without a doubt, the most time-consuming videos we produce. As we are still fighting to find sponsors and actually keep going, Monday's videos take up too much time. Next Monday, when we reach Hampshire, will see us pause this section until September this year. On resumption it will continue weekly, with the usual half term and holiday breaks through till July 2026. By then you will be ready to follow our real journey around these counties which, for you, will start in September 2026.

Wednesday will continue but we have decided that, rather than alternate our history and geography sections, we will take them in two complete parts. History will now run through till December 2025, covering every period in our Times Past section. Our geographical Eating with our European neighbours will then return and take us through till, once again, July 2026.

We hope that you can see why we have made these changes which is purely to give you a better experience. There is also one way you can help us to keep this going. We have a Patreon page, link is here, on which, for as little as £5 a month you can support us, get some goodies and gain a bigger insight into the work we do and who we are, If just 200 people subscribed at that rate or if 50 people subscribed at our £20 a month rate, we'd be virtually there without having to contact big business, be put on hold, transferred around a department and end up being asked to send something by email and then never receive a reply.

This blog, our podcasts and our Music Makes Pictures section which we want you to become part of, will, for now, continue as they are but, if we get enough patrons both the podcast and the blog may only become available through our Patreon page. `

If indeed music does make pictures, I'll leave you with the words of Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman way back in the 1960s. “Change is now, change is now, things which seemed to be solid are not.” That's got you flying (obscure clue) to Google hasn't it. Help us make that change and give a better start to young children.

Friday 2 May 2025.
Molly writes

The first of May marks the peak of Spring, half way between spring and summer, a time where flowers, trees and plants are all in bloom and at their peak before the summer dries them all up. It is on this day that Beltane is celebrated, a Celtic tradition of giving thanks for the sun and the fertile land below. A time to revel in the warmth of the sunshine as well as the growth, vitality and fertility that it promises. Traditionally, fire is at the centre of this festivity in dedication to the gods to ask for their divine blessing of abundance. Within pagan and Celtic beliefs, there are many gods and deities that represent different things in nature. During Beltane, they call upon gods such as the mother earth goddess and the Greenman, who represent fertility. It was important to Pagans to pray for fertile land as they heavily relied upon it for food and water.

Like Samhain, Beltane is one of the 4 fire festivals in the Pagan wheel of the year and like Samhain (the pagan roots of Halloween) they believed that the veil was thin between our world and the spirit world, enhancing our ability to interact and ask for the favour of the gods. A huge fire is lit, as part of the ritual of protection over livestock and crops. Sometimes they'd walk their cattle around the fire and it's known that lovers would jump over it in the hope they'd be blessed with love and fertility. Many would plan for a wedding around this time or a hand-fastening ceremony that bound and blessed lovers together.

It is also believed that around this time the fairies and the fae begin to awaken. The May Queen was seen as the queen of the fae and also known as the earth goddess Flora. In modern May Day traditions, a young lady is crowned as a symbolic May Day Queen and is adorned with flowers and wreaths, along with a flower crown. Another tradition that you may have heard of before, is maypole dancing. Everyone grabs a ribbon and dances together around the pole which is usually made from the Hawthorn tree. There are particular dances that create a wonderfully plaited maypole at the end, symbolising life and renewal and often single young men and women would partake in the dances in hope they'd find a partner.

The full moon for this month is known as the flower moon and the month of May is thought to be named after Maia who was seen as an ancient earth goddess who presided over plants and flowers. Make it your goal this month to stop, smell and admire the glorious flowers. As we move into the brighter half of the year our energies become more extroverted, more focused on the outside world and our bodies, rather than the deep inner soul reflections we tend toward in the winter. Spend time practising pleasure, joy and hope and tend to the seeds that you sowed at the beginning of the year.