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The School of the Air will be live for at least the next three years. We have plans for material to be available each week day until the end
of July 2028. We have no intention of stopping then but, even if we do, the material we have uploaded by then will remain for the foreseeable
future. Until July 2026 the format will have an almost identical programme each week. We explain that day‐by‐day below.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Monday
This is more a fun day as, each week, maybe even during the holidays, we will upload a little vlog with
Molly and Richard chatting about the week ahead, what they've been doing and other events happening in the world. This
could be fun as no one is quite sure if Richard knows what a vlog is.
These will continue once we begin our real journey and will give you a taster of where we are before we actually
upload the complete videos. This section will be suitable for all ages, even adults.
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Tuesday
The Tuesday video is intended for our youngest followers, those in the Early Years group, and has proved amazingly popular.
Each video lasts between 6 to 10 minutes, no longer, as this is a good length of time to hold the interest of this age group. Our aim here is to enthral our
followers with the magic of nature by reading them a story and then to encourage them to get outside and immerse themselves in the
awe and wonder that nature provides while also learning to treat it with respect.
Molly spent some time thinking about what book we could read to them and remembered one which her mother had read to her.
That book is the The Adventures of Pip the Pixie by Enid Blyton. Each story chosen will be related to the season of the year in which it will
be uploaded. To add to the enjoyment for our young followers, Molly has built a little den (in my spare room) from where she, with the help of
Owlbut and Colin, will tell the story. Each story will be illustrated with a selection of photographs.
At the start of each story Molly will show the children one or two examples of sign language which relate to the story. Then, at the
end of each story Molly will talk directly to the children and give them some ideas of what they could do to find out more about something in that
story. The story will also, where possible, be linked to the Making with Molly videos which will appear on Thursdays, more later.
We know that Molly's own enthusiasm for the natural world and her genuine rapport with young children will come across from
these videos and with the sometimes mischievous appearances of Owlbut and Colin we are certain that we can hold the attention of our young
followers, encapsulate the wonder of our world, arouse children's natural curiosity and ignite their imagination.
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Wednesday
Wednesday is different from the other days as we will have two different topics during the next year. It is also the most
academic of our days. The topics will be about history and geography.
In the
Times Past section of our main site we have divided English history into 24 separate time periods. In that section we take children on a
journey through those time periods in three separate ways. We have the timeline, which looks at major events; we have Owlbut's hoots which,
in a series of short, maximum 280 word pieces, look at more personal aspects from the past, namely homes, clothes, food, daily life and culture
and we have a story about sometime in the period available to read or to listen to and with the option for children to use their imagination and
creativity, maybe with a small dash of curiosity, and draw their own picture relating to that story. The best of the pictures that are sent to
us will then be uploaded on to our site.
From April 21st until the end of 2025 we are looking at 23 of those time periods. The first
period looking at England in the last Ice Age we are treating a bit differently. Each video will be about 10-20 minutes long. Each video will
follow a similar format. Essentially the video will be in two parts, beginning with Richard talking about events and changes in the period.
At the end of this section Richard will introduce the children to an activity, sometimes activities, relating to the period at
which they could have a go. These will be fairly simple and easy for children and parents to copy, inexpensive but fun. It could be as
simple as folding a napkin in a Victorian style, making your own toga or making pottage.
The video will end with our take on the endings of the Vicar of Dibley. Don't remember that? Have a look.
From January 5th 2026 we want to look at our nearest neighbours in Europe but, as with most things we do, it will not only be fun but also
interactive.
During the COVID lockdowns we ran weekly sessions where Richard, and some friends, prepared and/or cooked a food item that
was traditional in one of the English counties that were on our
English Counties section. Those videos are still there and will be for a very long time. Pick a county, click where the fun info is and scroll down.
What fun, we thought foolishly, to do something similar while helping children become more aware of the other countries
in Europe. So, following a very similar format to those "England on a Plate" videos, we will now do the same thing for 27 of the largest countries in
Europe. We will take a couple of signature dishes, simple (don't forget Richard will be cooking most of these) and fairly cheap, give you
the ingredients needed and then show you how to make them.
Before the start of the cooking part, Richard will give some information about the country we have chosen that week and at the
end he will taste the dish and, if all's gone well, he'll be back the next week with another. Cooking videos invariably go
wrong so these videos will almost certainly add to the monthly outtakes you can see if you
.
As a pilot we have already covered the largest three countries in Western Europe, you may have seen then, and they too will become available
again in January 2026.
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Thursday
Our Thursday video is also intended for our younger followers, those in the Early Years group. The aim of these videos is threefold.
Firstly to give our young followers something to do or make; secondly to help them realise that play can happen without the need for an expensive
item but simply by using something that nature can provide and thirdly to get them outside and again realise the awe and wonder that nature provides.
The main part of all these videos will be filmed outside or in Molly's cabin. It will start with a brief introduction from Molly.
The children can then watch Molly making the item, telling them what to do and also, while making, giving them some fun facts about
things (multi-talented, multi-tasking, multi-Molly - sadly there is only one). Again I know that Molly's enthusiasm for the natural world and
her genuine rapport with young children will come across from these videos and the young children will be fully engaged as she explains things
and recounts some stories. I know I always am. You can almost bet that Colin and Owlbut will find a way in somehow too and, quite literally,
I may have a hand in that.
Each video will end with Molly summing things up and asking our followers to send in a photo if they have followed her instructions.
These photos will be displayed on our website.
Many of these "Making with Molly" videos will be linked to the story the children will have heard earlier in the week.
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Friday
NOTE This section restarts on 5 September 2025
There will be two Friday videos which will both last between 7 and 15 minutes and neatly link to our
English Counties section already on our website.
There is never any harm in better understanding the country in which you live and this we seek to do. Indeed, although we
do not claim to follow any specific curriculum, the current geography curriculum for Key Stage II in English schools,
intended ages in schools between 7 and 11,
specifies that pupils should be taught (I hate that word - don't get me started) to name and locate counties and cities of
the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical
features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
Our intention in these videos is, through the material we will produce, to identify all those counties, plus a few extra places,
and by doing so cover most of the other long-winded stuff that the curriculum says pupils should be taught. However we will not
teach anything; we will introduce our followers to some interesting information that they can either absorb or, quite freely, in their
own way, use a base for further independent study.
The first video will talk about something specific that has happened in that area. I promise it will not all, or even mostly, be about battles. The story will be told through video footage and pictures and by a voice-over explanation. The second video will then, in the same format, look at something weird and amazing that can be found there. We
hope, from all this, that our followers will gain knowledge about each county but from a fun, non-prescriptive source.
You may know, from elsewhere on our site, that, forty one years on from his first journey, Richard, with Molly, wants to go back and see how things have changed or even find places to which he has never been. We could visit some places that our followers have sent us and will be designing a project to allow them to send in suggestions and maybe even meet us. We do know that we will have aroused the traits with which every child is born, namely
curiosity, imagination and creativity and that these are so important to our ethos. At the same time we will be allowing our learners, our
followers, the freedom to roam wildly in their own learning landscape.
As you know, if you've listened to us over the last months, we believe, no we know, that every child develops differently, with
different interests, different ways of learning and, therefore, should be allowed to learn in their own way. The 7-11 arbitrarily defined age
range within the national curriculum is not fixed in our eyes but could, very loosely, be used as a guide.
We will complete this virtual journey on July 17 2026, Richard's 77th birthday, just in time for you to begin following our real,
two year, journey from September of that year.
For those of you like Molly who prefer to see a visual picture of our plans we set that out below.
Over the year there may be a few bonus videos, who can say. Also don't forget you have complete access to the rest of Owlbut's website.
