The St Aubyn family, owners of St Michael’s Mount, are launching a new initiative to engage with schools and community groups across West Cornwall.

The Learning Hub will be headed up by education officer Kerry Rice, who joins the estate following 10 years of teaching at a local primary school and before that, 20 years as Learning Curator at Tate St Ives. 

Based at St Michael’s Mount, Kerry will lead and shape an educational programme, with plans to establish an outdoor learning strategy across the entire estate.

Working with schools and community groups across West Cornwall, the programme will be designed to engage children and young people in creative and collaborative experiences to bring the history of the island and its locality to life. Teachers will be able to plan group visits, with specific focus on various aspects from literacy to geography and art to history.

Work has already begun with a project this month to plant 500 trees for the Queen’s Green Canopy at Friendship Woods alongside pupils from St Hilary School and Marazion School.

In the new year, the Gwelva Time Capsule project launches aimed at bringing children together to create or source items for a time capsule to be buried on Gwelva Boat Landing.

And next summer, the Penwith Primary Book Festival, a project sponsored by the St Aubyn Estate Foundation, will take place at Penwith College.

Harvey Thomas, CEO of St Aubyn Estates said: “Schools and learning groups have always been welcomed to the Mount and the wider estate. The introduction of a dedicated Learning Hub brings structure to our offer and provides the vital resources teachers need to bring important subjects to life.”

The Learning Hub is funded by the St Aubyn Estates Foundation, a charitable programme which supports initiatives in West Cornwall that make a difference to the local community.