Nominee Summary
The Grosvenor Reay Forest Estate Open Days team delivers a structured Schools Open Day that brings curriculum-linked learning to life through hands-on, real world activity stations. In 2026, schools were planned/confirmed at 163 pupils (S1–S3 and some primary school, children), rotating through stations that showcase modern rural careers and land stewardship — from peatland restoration and biodiversity to forestry, fleet, hospitality and traditional estate skills. The approach is strongly partnership-led and has earned outstanding feedback for the team’s enthusiasm and authenticity in helping young people understand the estate’s work and future pathways.
The preservation of skills
A distinctive strength of the Schools Open Day is how it preserves and passes on rural skills by putting pupils directly alongside the people who practise them — combining traditional estate knowledge with modern techniques. The schools programme is delivered through a rotating set of stations (planned to follow the previous year’s set up), including Hill Ponies, Deer Management, Property Maintenance, Fleet Management, Hospitality, Gardens, Sustainable Forestry, and peatland restoration learning experiences. This breadth matters educationally: it demonstrates that “rural careers” are not one job, but an ecosystem of disciplines — animal handling and countryside management, practical joinery/maintenance mindsets, logistics and machinery awareness, food and accommodation operations, and land-based conservation and forestry. The learning is not just observational. Individual stations are designed as hands on micro lessons: for example, Gardens activities for schools included structured biological learning (e.g., worm biology and their importance), and forestry/biomass station risk assessments show how machinery, tools and safe systems underpin real working practice. Supporting materials reinforce this as skills education, not just outreach. The “School questions” resource includes targeted prompts and factual learning points (e.g., forestry cycles, species variety, and biomass context such as heating multiple properties), helping staff translate specialist knowledge into age appropriate teaching.
Increasing awareness
The Schools Open Day increases awareness by turning the estate into a real world classroom: pupils see how environmental stewardship, community benefit and rural employment connect — and what pathways might lead to those careers. The 2026 plan frames the Schools Day purpose as inspiring learners through hands on activities linked to biodiversity, peatland restoration and estate life. The structure is deliberately designed to keep learning active: groups rotate through short, repeatable sessions (20-minute blocks) that function like mini lessons, enabling consistent delivery across many groups while maintaining attention and engagement. Awareness is also widened through partnership: the estate invited and involved organisations whose work overlaps with curriculum priorities and future jobs. For example, Flow Country Partnership engagement specifically connected peatland restoration to education and career opportunities, reinforcing that climate and nature work is also a viable pathway for young people. Importantly, the programme is not positioned as a one off “visit”. The intent is explicit: showcasing the roles, responsibilities and evidence-led decision making behind modern estate management. Earlier Open Day communications described the model as developing multiple activity centres to demonstrate the work across the estate, with strong feedback from schools and community attendees. This approach supports both immediate learning and longer-term aspiration: pupils experience the estate as a network of skills, science, and community roles — and leave with a clearer understanding of how their interests (e.g., STEM-linked topics) can map onto real jobs.
Ethical/environmental standards
The educational programme is grounded in high ethical and environmental standards by using the estate’s real work and real evidence as the curriculum. The Schools Open Day is explicitly designed to “inspire young learners through hands-on activities” that showcase biodiversity, peatland restoration and estate life, linking learning to responsible land management. Key learning themes include environmental restoration and monitoring, with the day framed around explaining the estate’s peatland work and river catchment improvements (including the Laxford River Project) and how habitat monitoring supports biodiversity outcomes. This positions pupils to understand environmental decision making as a practical discipline — not an abstract topic — and reinforces ethical stewardship through transparency about methods and trade offs. The wider Open Day narrative also situates the estate’s approach within recognised standards: a 2026 communications draft highlights the estate’s conservation credentials, including reference to a gold accreditation from Wildlife Estates and the aim of giving visitors a behind the scenes understanding of conservation and land management. Partnership choices further reinforce values: the estate actively engaged organisations whose remit includes environmental education and restoration, such as the Flow Country Partnership, who explicitly sought to provide education on peatlands and raise awareness of careers linked to peatland restoration.
Noteworthy improvements
Over the last two event cycles, the Schools Open Day has shown clear improvement in both scale and educational design. Attendance increased from 126 pupils in 2022, to 139 confirmed in 2024, to 163 pupils confirmed/planned for 2026, demonstrating growing trust and demand from schools across the region. The programme has also become more structured and repeatable. Delivery uses a consistent rotation model (sessions repeated 11 times in 20-minute blocks), which strengthens quality control: every group receives a comparable learning experience, regardless of arrival time or group mix. Educational content has been sharpened with clearer curriculum alignment. In 2026 planning discussions, the Schools Day was described as moving toward a more curriculum-based focus (including STEM alignment), enabling pupils to connect estate roles to skills, interests, and future study pathways. A further development in 2026 was the introduction of a simple but impactful reflective question posed to pupils at the start of the day: “Can you see a role for yourself at Reay Forest Estate, and if so, what role?” This approach encouraged pupils to actively engage with the day as a careers exploration experience, rather than passive observation, and provided a tangible way to measure shifts in perception and aspiration. The estate’s partnership network has also expanded in support of learning outcomes, including collaboration with organisations such as Flow Country Partnership, linking environmental education to real career opportunities. Finally, the event’s community benefit has become more explicit, with 2026 fundraising directed to support North West Sutherland schools via parent councils.
Overcoming Challenges
Delivering a high-quality educational experience in a remote rural setting requires overcoming practical barriers and ensuring a safe, consistent learning experience for every pupil. The Schools Open Day has been designed specifically to address geography and access: planning included confirmed school numbers (e.g., 163 pupils in 2026 planning) and coordination with schools via Countryside Learning Scotland. The day is delivered as a structured rotation, with stations repeated in 20-minute blocks to keep learning consistent and engaging across many groups. This model reduces congestion, supports varied attention spans, and ensures each group receives the same core learning. Operationally, the team builds resilience into delivery through thorough risk and compliance planning (including weather contingencies, visitor management/traffic plans, and school risk assessment support). Safeguarding and supervision are integrated into station planning, and the programme is supported by detailed running orders and event control arrangements to maintain safety as the priority. Finally, the event depends on whole team commitment across departments, something explicitly recognised in feedback after delivery, with the team’s enthusiasm and effort described as clearly visible to visitors and reflected in comments received.
