That is something I have asked myself since I left school. I struggled through education, spending time in classes that never interested me, finding the subjects dull and boring because it was what had to be done. I dreamt of being outdoors, exploring. My boyhood hero was another Plymouth born explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott; I wanted so badly to go on an expedition, to see remote parts of the world. The classroom was something that I associated with being grounded, stuck in a room until I could escape again.

As I got older, my passion for the outdoors grew along with my passion for travel; suddenly I found an eagerness to learn, to experience and see everything I could. To be able to travel to a location enables you to fully appreciate the beauty of your surroundings. Whether it concerns historical significance, the influence of human kind or wildlife, in the natural world there is always something to learn and to experience. Being able to use your senses stimulates the mind.

As my journeys took me to more remote locations, so too have technologies advanced, making it possible to gain satellite phone coverage in the most remote areas of the Arctic. This enables explorers and researchers to send back daily updates of their findings and experiences; it also enables children to send questions directly to those satellite phones. Using a PDA or small laptop, those questions can be answered with stunning photographs, inspirational video footage and gripping stories from the trail. Suddenly these sights, sounds and experiences can be delivered straight to the classroom and other learning environments, making them inspiring places in which to learn. Credible eye witness accounts of the world around us can be accessed in real time; a text book is only as current as the day it was printed.

My greatest achievement while using this ability to report back from the Arctic included a successful crossing from Canada to the Geographic North Pole in early 2010. The Geographic North Pole expedition saw my two team mates and I ski and snow-shoe (and sometimes swim!) over 500 miles from Cape Discovery to the Geographic North Pole in just 51 days, collecting valuable scientific data for Plymouth University. Since returning from the North Pole I have taken my experiences into over 250 schools and the enthusiasm I am greeted with from children is just as rewarding an experience as reaching the Pole itself. This has made me realise something else about myself; it is as an educator, rather than an explorer, that I would like to be remembered.

I am not unique in employing this technology to reach a global school-aged audience – so why, I asked myself, wasn’t there a central platform that brings together all of these projects on one website so that children can learn about the world at the click of a button? I decided to answer that question by launching just such an e-learning platform – ETE Teachers, under the umbrella of a Community Interest Company called Education Through Expeditions (ETE).

Education Through Expeditions also provides inspirational talks and educational outreach days through which the experiences of myself and other members of the ETE Team can be shared with others to motivate listeners to raise their own aspirations.

Today I would like to offer you a special insight into the work of Education Through Expeditions through providing you with some of the cross-curricula educational resources that are crucial to our work in schools for free!

Here is one of our four exercise books that your students can work through and learn about the wildlife in the Polar Regions, we also have three other exercise books: Expedition Life, Inuit Culture and Environmental Sciences. Once all four exercise books have been completed by a student, they will then earn themselves a certificate for passing through our Polar Academy.

Download here: Wildlife Exercise Book

This is a video of my presentation about my journey to the Geographic North Pole.

This is the inspirational video of my journey to the Geographic North Pole.

This is a video explaining how to use our ETETeachers site and the features that could be available to you and your students.

Download this document which explains in further detail how you can have an ETE Team member to come into your school and provide your students with a mixture of different activities as part of an interactive fun day!

Download here: ETETalk – Outreach Team + Polar Activity Breakdown

The Arctic Jubilee Expedition

Education Through Expedition’s Latest project has officially launched.

British Arctic Adventurers plan the coldest and most remote Diamond Jubilee tea party. While the rest of Britain is hanging up the bunting at home, an intrepid British team will be waving flags and eating cake up the highest point of queen Elizabeth Islands in Northern Canada, just 500 miles short of the north pole.

The historic Arctic Jubilee Expedition aims to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II by visiting the highest point on the Queen Elizabeth Islands, renamed by Canada on the coronation of HM the Queen in 1952. Barbeau Peak has only been summited 8 times throughout history and is the highest point within the British Empire Range as well as the Arctic Cordillera. More people have summited Everest than Barbeau Peak, outlining the remoteness and the momentous impact of the project.

Central to the ascent of Barbeau peak, and as part of a legacy to the expedition, is our education and outreach programme. Through the linking of Inuit and UK schools via our interactive IT learning platform, a sense of global citizenship will be fostered. Our interactive discussion boards will enable students from both cultures to interact and discuss questions relating to cultural identity, the Arctic environment and issues of climate change and sustainability.

This education and outreach campaign is an extension to the work of Education Through Expeditions (a social enterprise organisation) which has already completed over 350 school visits and workshops. Workshop activities have led to the development of a comprehensive syllabus of polar activities which have been established through strong teacher and school partnerships. We aim to continue this by presenting to over 10,000 students this year. Through our continued educational outreach work and associated increased polar awareness, we aim to leave a fitting legacy not only to this expedition, but also to that of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

This project will depart in the middle of May 2012.

For more information on this project please see: www.etelive.org/arcticjubilee

The Team

Antony Jinman:Polar Explorer and Team Leader

“The world will benefit from Antony’s efforts to educate and inspire action, and I applaud him for his valiant work.” Will Steger, Polar Explorer and Founder of the Center for Global Environmental Education.

There is no set career path to becoming an explorer. No degree or apprenticeship. Exploration is a realisation of a dream. After five years in the armed forces, Antony left to pursue this dream. He became an adventure tour guide at 23 and then an expedition leader at the age of 25 and began travelling all over the world. His first trip to the Arctic was the 2007 Baffin Island Expedition for the Mitchem Trust, raising £180,000 for vulnerable children. This was the start of a special relationship as Baffin Island has become the hub for Antony’s Arctic expeditions, which have taken him to Greenland and presented him with the ultimate challenge: the journey to the Geographic North Pole in 2010.

The Geographic North Pole Expedition 2010 saw Antony and his two team mates ski and snow shoe (and sometimes swim) over 500 miles from Cape Discovery to the Geographic North Pole in just 51 days, collecting valuable scientific data for the University of Plymouth. Realising his boyhood dream to reach the North Pole at the age of 29 might seem like the end of his ambition but this is not the case: it is as an educator rather than an explorer that Antony wants to be remembered. For the past three years he has been developing his school outreach program, visiting schools and communicating his passion for expedition to children, hoping to inspire them like he was by his hero Captain Scott. This work has flourished to become Education Through Expeditions, a Community Interest Company that aims to bring real-time case studies to educators on a global basis.

James Gudjonson: ACMG/IFMGA Guide

James has been a professional mountain guide for the last 18 years; he became a member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) after training in the Canadian Mountain and Ski Guide Program (CMSG). His duties as a guide involve working as an instructor/examiner on various CMSG programs as well as coordinating contractors and students involved with the program. James has led many international expeditions including: Chile, Peru, Japan, Argentina and Alaska. James holds the Distinguished Service Award (2008) for his activity within the Alpine Club of Canada. He is also the Energy and Sustainability Manger at Thompson Rivers University, overseeing the reduction of GHG emissions and fostering a ‘culture of sustainability’ throughout the university.

James’s role on the expedition will be to work alongside Antony in leading and developing those with less experience to enhance their mountaineering skills and expedition safety; he will play a key role in skill progression.

Johnny Issaluk: Inuit Philanthropist, Athlete and Youth Mentor

Johnny is an Inuit from Igluligaarjuk, in Nunavut, and has grown up hunting, fishing and camping with his elders as Inuit have for centuries. Johnny works with various organisations that address mental health conditions through counselling and traditional activities. Johnny is a keen volunteer and youth mentor regularly teaching Arctic games and traditions at youth institutions as one of the most successful Inuit Games athletes of his generation.

He is an active Arctic Ambassador and holds Arctic Stewardship for ‘Students on Ice’, an international student development programme. In February 2012 he was awarded The Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, for efforts towards “improving the health and wellbeing of Nunavummiut”. Johnny represents an important cultural link in the Education and Outreach Programme of the expedition.

Oli Milroy: PR manager and Web master

Hi I’m Oli Milroy, I am 18 years old and from Plymouth. I currently work for Education Through Expeditions as the Project Manager and Web Master. I have always had my finger in the expedition pie as it were, so going on this expedition was a transition I have been waiting for; an opportunity like this expedition is one you will rarely see. I have a background in the outdoors undertaking many activities from long distance walking all the way through to sky diving. I love a challenge and thrive from testing my body by putting it through its paces. Another one of my passions is presenting in the media industry hence my role on this expedition as PR manager. The AJE is going to be a life changing experience for me personally, providing me with an unique experience that will develop my career as a speaker and presenter, but also developing me as a person – not every 18 year old can say they are off to the Arctic on an expedition! This project will definitely have a huge impact on my future career and will hopefully open doors that wouldn’t otherwise be available to me.

Thomas Perriment: Research, Planning and Finance

Thomas, a 20 year old, is in the final stage of BSc (Hons) Physical Geography and Geology at the University of Plymouth. Following on from his experiences with The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and his international fieldwork experiences at university, he hopes to enter the world of education following PGCE training to become a geography teacher. He has been awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award (The Henry Beaufort School) and the Higher Sports Leader Award (Sports Leaders UK). He has an infallible passion for Arctic environments and also holds the position of Outreach Coordinator at the UK Polar Network.

Thomas said, “Through this work I can communicate the geography and natural history of the Arctic environment and promote Inuit culture in UK schools. The Arctic Jubilee Expedition is will be a powerful tool in motivation and education. Inspiration through endeavour is key to getting the next generation active and aware of the world around them; a sense of sustainability and environmental awareness is the footprint I wish to leave”.

David Buckley: Logistics and Training

Hi I’m David. I feel like this project is a unique career development opportunity to combine my academic interests in science communication and ecology with my passion for the outdoors and exploration. This expedition will give me a life changing platform to apply the skill set and qualifications I already have, whilst challenging me in new ways. This is an exclusive opportunity and a significant step towards realising numerous life goals. I aspire to develop my skills in science communication and conservation by furthering my education, enabling me to better assess and contribute to the management of our environment. I seek to do this by enrolling in a Master’s degree programme in Sustainable Environmental Management continuing my current work at Plymouth University. The Arctic Jubilee Expedition is an opportunity for me to be a part of an influential educational outreach programme in the field I wish to pursue, whilst gaining first-hand experience of one the most high profile environments under pressure from anthropogenic climate change.

Pete Royston: Team Medic

Pete Royston joined The Royal Marines in 1984 at the age of sixteen from Plympton Comprehensive School. He spent twenty six years in the forces and during that time operated in all climates and saw action in all conflicts since The Falklands.

With over twenty winter deployments to Norway, finishing as a Military Ski Teacher, he was responsible for helping with the training of all Marines during their Cold Weather Warfare Training: Pete is no stranger to arduous conditions. Currently he is re-training to be a Paramedic and with numerous training courses already under his belt, including Remote Medicine, he will be a handy person to have on the ice should Antony require any assistance with this excitable novice expedition team.

Ben Shearn: Mentor in Business, events and sponsorship

Ben is the Managing director/proprietor of the hospitality focused Treasury Group, He has gained over 20years experience of starting and operating businesses,and is currently chairman of the Association of Barbican Businesses, board Director of the Plymouth Waterfront partnership and a Trustee of Jeremiahs Journey childrens charity. He also has 4 years experience as the team manager in the British class-1 world powerboat series and is generally a well travelled bon viveur!

I am bringing my experience of fundraising, event organisation and corporate engagement to the expedition as a mentor to the students of the team. I hope to guide them on best practice in negotiating sponsorship opportunities and also to help develop and tune their business skills when engaging and promoting corporate-social responsibility as they persue their chosen careers.

“We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint.”

To celebrate the quest of Captain Scott and his team a century ago, SWGfL are delighted to announce a brilliant writing competition in collaboration with ETE: Education Through Expeditions!

100 years ago, Captain Robert Falcon Scott led a team on an incredible adventure – to reach the South Pole, one of the last unexplored places on earth, at that time. They walked an incredible 800 miles, through fierce blizzards and ice, to reach their goal (on a map, plan a walk from Exeter right through to the other side of Germany!).

Sadly, Scott and his colleagues never returned. Their supply of food dwindled, terrible weather set in, frostbite, hunger and exhaustion all took their toll on the brave explorers.

A century later, Captain Scott is celebrated for being a pioneer, who helped map an unfamiliar landscape, record vital information on weather patterns and help future exploration teams understand such extreme environments.

Antony Jinman, polar explorer and founder of ETE, is helping us to launch an exciting writing competition, aimed at helping pupils understand the experiences of those men 100 years ago, as well as to look to the future of exploration and how it can help us look after our planet. So, what do you have to do?

“Write a Letter to Captain Scott”

SWGfL, alongside ETE, are asking you to use your creative skills. To celebrate the centenary of Captain Scott’s journey to the South Pole, we are giving away some brilliant prizes to pupils who show creativity, imagination and originality:

If you could write a letter to one of our history’s heroes (Captain Scott), what would you say? What do you think of his adventures? What questions would you ask? What is your opinion of how our world is changing?

The competition is open to pupils of all age ranges and kicks off Tuesday 21st February, and the closing date is Friday March 30th.

The best entry will win a fantastic school visit from Antony and the ETE Team, along with the incredible polar equipment that he takes with him on his own Polar adventures!

So, how do you enter?

Send your letter to Sherwell Centre, University of Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA OR you can send a letter as an email to this address competition@etehome.org.

When you send your entry, please tell us your full name, age and school (by doing this, you are agreeing for us to use this on our website, so we can show your great thinking!)

Download PDF of this competition: Writing-Competition.

Competition Terms and Conditions
For your chance to win A Letter to Scott Competition, send your letter to Sherwell Centre University of Plymouth Devon. PL4 8AA or email your letter to competition@etehome.org.

Competition entries must be received on or before Noon Friday 30th March 2012.

Judging will take place during week beginning April 2nd 2012. The judging panel will consist of representatives from SWGfL and members of ETE.

There will be 1 winner, receiving a visit from Antony Jinman and the ETE Team, to their school.

The winning entry will be contacted by telephone on 16th April 2012 and announced online at www.etehome.org and www.swgfl.org.uk

The winning entry will be the entry which provides, in the opinion of the judges, the most original, creative and thoughtful letter, which is supported by some research of Scott’s journey.

Winners will be determined at the judges’ absolute discretion and no correspondence will be entered into.

This competition is only open to pupils attending schools in the South West of England.

SWGfL will do its best to ensure all entries are looked after but cannot be responsible for any lost or damaged entries.

By entering this competition, the individual gives consent for his/her name and school name to be published on www.swgfl.org.uk and www.etehome.org

As the competition winner will have their letter published on websites, we need to ensure that we have the copyright to do this. The following paragraph refers to this aspect:

For good and valuable consideration (the receipt and sufficiency of which you acknowledge) you hereby give to SWGfL and its sub contractors all necessary consents and irrevocably and absolutely grant and assign all rights necessary for the reproduction, transmission and exploitation of the recording of my competition entry without time limit throughout the world by all means, formats and media (whether now known or hereafter invented) without liability or acknowledgement to me and I hereby confirm that all moral rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or otherwise have been waived. I also confirm that SWGfL and its sub contractors shall be entitled to cut, edit, copy, adapt and exploit my contribution as SWGfL in its sole discretion deem fit and SWGfL shall not be obliged to include all or any of the same in any programme.

The Polar Course is structured to combine both theory and practical training, culminating in an exciting arctic expedition. With years of practical experience travelling over glaciers, ice caps and sea ice, Antony has a wealth of technical knowledge and experience to be passed on. Using first-hand knowledge, the theory covers the essential requirements for safe polar travel, presented through a series of interactive lectures, presentations and discussions, photographs and videos.

The same course was recently featured in the Telegraph newspaper as Antony lead the training for the International Scott Centenary Expedition.

For more videos from previous expeditions, please visit the “Films” section of the website. Hope you enjoy them :0)

This Christmas at Education Through Expeditions we are raising funds with the launch of our Polar Pudding. Due to popular demand our Polar Pudding is back for the 3rd year running.

All the profits go towards Education Through Expeditions and our continual work developing our school outreach activities and visits. If you work for a company which would like to make this a campaign, a member of a group or society, a teacher at a school, or would just love to buy a single pudding for Christmas, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please do drop me an email at explore@antonyjinman.com

We’ve got something a lot tastier than the usual festive raffle ticket. We’ve got The Ultimate Plum Pudding – one of the finest Christmas puddings you can buy. It has been endorsed by the BBC Good Food Magazine and by Chef Magazine as being as good as the best home made and has won a food ‘Oscar’ – a gold award at the Great Taste Awards.

The pudding is made by a small craft manufacturer in Cumbria using the finest locally sourced ingredients and is absolutely gorgeous. The vine fruits are soaked overnight in generous quantities of brandy and dry sherry whilst fresh breadcrumbs and grated carrot help give the pudding a lighter texture. Ingredients are top quality and much more varied than usual – almonds, walnuts, stem ginger, apricots, cherries as well as the best, juicily alcoholic, raisins and sultanas. We asked why there are no currants and were told – none of us like currants!

It’s not steamed until its black, caramelised and bitter – it’s light, sweet and aromatic and you can taste a wealth of ingredients in every bite. Most people have no idea that Christmas pudding can be this good and lots of people enjoy it who ‘don’t like Christmas pudding’.

The proof as they say……. (a first-hand experience in an email the company received):

“I really wanted to contact the company to say thank-you for making such a wonderful Christmas pudding. Our daughter attends St Johns Special School in Bedford. We bought one of your Christmas puddings last year but not being a great lover of Christmas pudding it remained uneaten until summer. We decided we better eat it rather than let it go to waste! Well this year I have bought enough for Christmas and beyond because it is the best pudding I have ever tasted. We had it with mascarpone and it was wonderful! Thank you. Ruth Vanner.”

Our Polar Pudding is not available in supermarkets (the company is too small for that) but it is available through Education Through Expeditions. We have had the pudding attractively labelled especially for us to incorporate our logo. Each order for a 1lb pudding (serves 4) costs £5.75 and raises at least £2.00 for us. (We get bigger discounts the more you order). A 2lb (serves costs £9.95 and raises at least £3.50. Ordering direct from the manufacturer allows a good profit for us within a price which is competitive with the premium retail puddings.
It’s a really great pudding – a true highlight for the most loved meal of the year. We’re proud to offer it and know that your family and friends will love it (including the vegetarians). It’s so easy to order from us AND it raises money for ETE. It has to be worthwhile.

Fill in the order form and send it back now, see attached pdf :O)
ETE Polar Pudding Launch 2011

Ingredients: vine fruits(raisins, sultanas)(27%), free range egg, dark sugar, carrot, fresh breadcrumbs(wheat flour, water, yeast, vegetable oil, salt, spirit vinegar, soya),apple(6%), flour, mixed peel(4%), dates(3%), brandy(2.5%), sherry(2.5%), cherries (natural colour)(2.5%), stem ginger(2.5%), unhydrogenated palm oil*, all vegetable margarine (unhydrogenated), almonds(1%), walnuts(1%), unsulphured apricots(1%), golden syrup, spices, salt, preservative – potassium sorbate. Allergens: nuts, wheat, egg, soya.
May also contain mustard.

*from a supplier committed to sustainable production.

Can we also tempt you to a jar of the Ultimate Brandy Butter? Maximum brandy – any more and it splits! Good unsalted butter of a velvety texture with just a little crunch. Fantastic but problematical – it disappears straight from the jar! £2.25 per 190g. Ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, brandy, nutmeg.