2023 marked the 25th anniversary of Refugee Week which took place from 19th to 25th June. This annual event, celebrated worldwide, is aimed at raising awareness of the resilience, strength, and contributions of refugees. It provides a valuable opportunity for schools to educate students on this important topic. Read on for 5 powerful free resources to explore with your class.

Congratulations to students at Wallbrook Primary Academy for being such brilliant Earth Day inventors and winning a bundle of sustainability books in our Earth Day 2023 competition.

On 22nd and 23rd March 2023 more than 170 classes, from schools from around the UK (some 5000 students), participated in our latest Lyfta live lessons in celebration of Earth Day 2023.

Global Be Well Day (GBWD) is a special annual event in the Cognita calendar. It's an opportunity to celebrate everything that schools do to prioritise wellbeing and to connect globally with each other through a range of activities. In 2022 Lyfta were delighted to provide some of the activities for this exciting event.

Zero Waste Week aims to encourage people to consider the environmental impact of waste, reduce landfill and rethink the waste they generate in their lives. This blog looks at 5 easy ways to get your school children involved.

World Space Week takes place each October. The awareness week provides an excellent opportunity for schools to get their students excited and inspired about science and technology. Read on for five exciting, free spaced-themed activities to enjoy with your students.

Monday 17 January 2022 is Martin Luther King day, a time to mark the life of the celebrated civil rights campaigner and the key messages he shared.

Plastic pollution, overfishing and rising water temperatures are just some of the issues affecting the health of the world's oceans. Lyfta has a series of immersive human stories which all give your pupils the opportunity to explore and understand the complexities of preserving our oceans.

Earth Day offers an excellent opportunity for schools to engage pupils in issues relating to climate change and environmental protection. Harriet Marshall and Matthew Smitheman offer some ideas below on how practitioners can do this effectively.

Monday 16 November marks the beginning of Anti-Bullying Week 2020. It is a time to celebrate diversity!

At Lyfta, we promote days like International Women's Day with mixed feelings. We do not wish to encourage tokenism by endorsing events like IWD, International Day of Older Persons, or Black History Month. But we also recognise the need to raise awareness and draw attention to some very important issues.

In celebration of World Health Day on April 7th, we would like to share our short exploration of health and well-being.

Happy International Women's Day! We are sharing this sparkling piece to mark the celebration of women around the world.

Over the summer we have been working on some important new features on the Lyfta platform to help make your Lyfta journey faster, smoother and more inspiring. The wealth of new features for September 2023 include important improvements to content discoverability through search, enhanced content cards and page structure, as well as improvements to the teacher and student apps for a better user experience. Read on to find out what has changed and let us know what you think of your new, improved Lyfta journey!

Rich media articles give learners and teachers a wider context to each storyworld. In this blog, Head of Educational Content, Lisa Taner looks at how our rich media articles can help learners understand complex topics.

Storyworlds are at the heart of Lyfta, allowing students to enter a new person's world and explore a real human stories through 360° spaces and soundscapes, high-quality documentary films, and rich media articles. This blog explores what a storyworld is and why it provides a powerful teaching resource for schools.

Film can bring complex topics to life and can be a powerful tool for sparking conversation and inspiring actions. In this blog, Chief Content Officer Paulina Tervo, discusses what makes a Lyfta film and how we work with our filmmaker community to produce the documentaries.

Lyfta Time is a weekly 20 minute session where a class can travel to a new place and experience a powerful and inspiring human story. It's an easy way for schools to get started with Lyfta's teaching resources.

At this BERA event which explored building a curriculum for a sustainable future, Lyfta's Partnership Consultant Rahul Karavadra talked about how human stories can be used to introduce the UN Sustainable Development Goals and inspire students to play their own role in building a more empathetic, peaceful and sustainable world.

Paulina Tervo - Chief Content Officer at Lyfta, talks about the responsibility storytellers and media outlets have for the way in which they tell stories, how those stories shape our world, our perspectives and attitudes and two very different experiences she had telling stories as a filmmaker.

One of the biggest challenges with online teaching is engagement with students. Many of the ways you will use to spark interest and excitement in learning in the classroom are simply not possible while being remote. Access Lyfta and make your lessons and learning experiences really come to life.

The continuing global pandemic has meant we have had to adjust almost every aspect of our lives. Our ability to travel and explore new places has been severely limited but platforms like Lyfta provide a wonderful way to lift children out of their everyday surroundings at a time that travel and other enrichment opportunities are so limited.

Paulina Tervo, Chief Content Officer at Lyfta, shares insights into the background of the human stories that can be found within Lyfta's immersive 360° documentary storyworlds.

Lyfta won two prestigious awards at the Reimagine Education Awards 2020, known as the Oscars of Education, pipping to the post esteemed colleagues from Harvard University, Imperial College, and Century Tech.

Over the summer we have been working on some important new features on the Lyfta platform to help make your Lyfta journey faster, smoother and more inspiring. The wealth of new features for September 2023 include important improvements to content discoverability through search, enhanced content cards and page structure, as well as improvements to the teacher and student apps for a better user experience. Read on to find out what has changed and let us know what you think of your new, improved Lyfta journey!

It's easier than ever to explore the world and meet new people with Lyfta. We've added new features to give you a snapshot of your Lyfta usage via the teacher dashboard, so you can keep track of the people and places you've experienced with your class.

Read about the changes we've made to make it simpler for you to access your active lessons in Lyfta and find fresh teaching inspiration. The new dashboard is personalised for you, with tailored content, active lessons, quick links and more.

Read about new features for March 2023, designed to further improved your Lyfta platform experience.

Read about this exciting Lyfta platform upgrade which includes a major speed upgrade.

We've been listening to our teacher community to learn what would make searching for content on Lyfta even better. Here are three of new features for December 2022 to improve the experience of discovering teaching content and the teaching resources you need.

At Lyfta we are constantly trying to improve our product, service and teaching resources for schools. The latest new features, for November 2022 are designed to improve the experience of teachers choosing to teach in front of the class with Lyfta.

See how Pontefract Academies Trust are using Lyfta's real human stories and cultural experiences to make an impact on students' global perspectives.

On 6th and 12th July over 100 classes from schools across the UK participated in our latest Lyfta live lesson. We explored the 'Home Wasn't Built in a Day' storyworld and focused on school transition: preparing students for the next adventure.

Personal development plays a crucial role in nurturing well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the challenges of the future, as well as being one of the key areas inspected by Ofsted. In this blog, we will explore the inspection framework for personal development and highlight how Lyfta's immersive storytelling platform can help schools and trusts excel in this area.

Lyfta and Djanogly Sherwood Academy have won the Global EdTech Award for Best Co-production project. The Global EdTech Awards 2023 were devised to celebrate both the achievements of educators working in schools and those leading innovations in education technology.

Did you know that you can use your PE and Sport Premium to enrich your school curriculum for PE and beyond through our immersive human stories? Find out more here.

On the 17th and 18th of May 2023, 304 classes, from schools across the UK and beyond, students joined us for our latest Lyfta live lesson: Celebrating Cultural Diversity, in celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity.

Lampard Community School is a special school situated in Devon which caters for children aged 5-16 with challenges in accessing a range of experiences due to difficulties with social interactions, sensory issues and other factors. Read how Lyfta has been used to wider students' experience of the world.

We know the importance of giving every student a chance to be heard. Read about how Lyfta provides immersive real human stories which can be a powerful tool to stimulate discussion, build classroom oracy and encourage debate in the classroom.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Tom Fay, Director of School Improvement at Pontefract Academies Trust, about the journey the trust is on with Lyfta. We discussed how they have implemented the platform and the impact they have seen so far.

Spring Partnership Trust is taking a pedtech approach to broadening students' horizons by combining Voice 21 and Lyfta's stories from around the world. Hear more in this blog about the impact they are having with their approach.

Read about how Foxborough Primary School, part of the Pioneer Educational Trust, are incorporating Lyfta into their curriculum to build awareness of the world, challenge stereotypes and bring their school values to life.

We are thrilled that Lyfta has won the prestigious Bett Award 2023 for Transformational Impact, selected from a category full of brilliant nominees! The awards recognise the best and most innovative products and services that are helping to transform education and improve learning outcomes in schools.

On 22nd and 23rd March 2023 more than 170 classes, from schools from around the UK (some 5000 students), participated in our latest Lyfta live lessons in celebration of Earth Day 2023.

The pupil premium is funding that supports disadvantaged pupils in publicly funded schools. Lyfta provides a highly effective tools to broaden horizons and give opportunities to disadvantaged students that they may not otherwise have.

Invite your students to be part of an exciting Lyfta live lesson and take part in our #EarthDayInventor competition.

Read about how Shaw Primary Academy in Essex are using the Lyfta platform to support and respond to the diversity needs of the school, to build a stronger sense of different ways of living and succeeding in the world.

On the 8th and 9th of February 2023, more than 300 classes from schools around the UK took part in our Lyfta live lesson. We visited Brazil and met musician Izandra to explore Children's Mental Health Week.

The experience and knowledge gained by children during their formative years are important factors to ensuring their success in wider society. By making cultural capital a curriculum entitlement, schools are able to provide opportunities to students - no matter their background. Hear from CEO Dan Morrow how Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust are using Lyfta to build cultural capital.

On 6th and 12th July over 100 classes from schools across the UK participated in our latest Lyfta live lesson. We explored the 'Home Wasn't Built in a Day' storyworld and focused on school transition: preparing students for the next adventure.

On the 17th and 18th of May 2023, 304 classes, from schools across the UK and beyond, students joined us for our latest Lyfta live lesson: Celebrating Cultural Diversity, in celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity.

In celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity (21st May), we are offering a free Lyfta live lesson celebrating cultural diversity where we will explore a brand new Lyfta storyworld.

On 22nd and 23rd March 2023 more than 170 classes, from schools from around the UK (some 5000 students), participated in our latest Lyfta live lessons in celebration of Earth Day 2023.

Invite your students to be part of an exciting Lyfta live lesson and take part in our #EarthDayInventor competition.

On the 8th and 9th of February 2023, more than 300 classes from schools around the UK took part in our Lyfta live lesson. We visited Brazil and met musician Izandra to explore Children's Mental Health Week.

Join us for free Lyfta live lessons for Children's Mental Health Week 2023. These sessions explore how healthy connections with family, friends and others, supports our mental health and wellbeing and introduce Lyfta storyworld Music is My Social Tool.

Thank you to the 104 classes (some 3120 students) from across the UK and beyond, who participated in our last Lyfta live lessons of 2022. This time we visited the National Opera and Ballet in Finland to meet some of the amazing people that work there, in an exciting end-of-term virtual school trip

More than 165 classes, from schools from around the UK (some 5000 students), participated in our Lyfta live lessons for December 2022. This time we visited Norway to meet footballer Anna as she prepared for an international competition, to help schools leverage learning opportunities around the Men's Football World Cup.

With budgets at school and at home under such pressure, many children won't have the opportunity to experience festive outings this year so Lyfta are offering an exciting, free virtual theatre trip instead!

Lyfta will be running live lessons directly to your students, designed to leverage learning opportunities around the Men's Football World Cup. This is an opportunity to harness the power of sport to explore and nurture positive values in the classroom.

An incredible 255 classes from around the world, participated in our Lyfta live lesson to celebrate World Space Week 2022.

We were delighted to welcome an incredible 201 classes (some 6,000 students) from across the UK to a series of exciting Lyfta live lessons to experience the sights and sounds of an erupting volcano in 360° and explored a powerful human story about a volcanologist studying the area.

We are incredibly proud of the team at Lyfta and are lucky enough to have gathered together a group of talented and passionate individuals. In this 'meet the team' blog we meet Ben Shaw, Partnerships Assistant.

The start of a new academic year affords us an opportunity to look ahead and set goals. This blog post outlines 4 Lyfta level 2 pre-recorded courses to support Lyfta subscribers to achieve their aims this academic year.

Providing a broad range of experiences for young people is important to broaden their horizons . This blog explores the PSHE scheme of work created by Lyfta with a suggested sequence of lesson plans focussed on broadening horizons and embedding values.

Tackling tough topics in the classroom is tough. Storytelling is a strong tool for supporting students to see other perspectives as well as developing an understanding of their own experiences. Lyfta storyworlds make learning experiences more powerful through the immersive nature of the real human stories that feature in them.

We are incredibly proud of the team at Lyfta and are lucky enough to have gathered together a group of talented and passionate individuals. In this 'meet the team' blog we meet Yiota Demetriou, User Experience Design Lead at Lyfta.

We explore the success of the one-day intensive CPD opportunity for school leaders that we ran during the summer term 2022.

We are incredibly proud of the team at Lyfta and are lucky enough to have gathered together a group of talented and passionate individuals. In this 'meet the team' blog we meet Charlie Philips, Head of Stories at Lyfta.

At Lyfta we are here to support you to nurture hope, aspiration and respect in your pupils. We've come up with a list of suggested reading that will broaden horizons even further next academic year. Of course you might want to switch off completely, BUT if you want to keep up with your professional development over the summer then read on!

Lyfta's environmental art competition 2022 invited students from across the UK to explore our immersive storyworld and be inspired to make their own artistic creations.

The importance of using a wide range of diverse human stories in our classrooms cannot be underestimated. In this blog, we'll explore the importance of using diverse human stories, how this can be done and the potential impact it can have for your students.

On the 16th of May 2022, Lyfta turned 6 years old. In this blog we will look how it all started for Lyfta and all the achievements over the year.

In 2022 we launched our first ever CPD course on diversity, equity and inclusion for Lyfta users. In this blog, Anna Szpakowska discusses how the course was put together and the impact it had on the teachers who participated.

Values-based learning sits at the heart of education, but isn't always easy to embed into practice. In this blog, Anna Szpakowska looks at how character and values-based learning can be made part of the curriculum.

Charlie Phillips, former head of documentary and video at The Guardian, has joined Lyfta, as our new head of stories to develop compelling documentary-style content for use in the classroom.

LEO Academy Trust is formed of seven primary schools in South London, serving over 3500 pupils. Staff from across the Trust attended Lyfta's global learning webinars to learn how to use the platform and weave the resources into lessons and assemblies.

In this blog we'll explore what constitutes effective differentiation, some strategies for differentiating work for the most able students, and how this could work when using Lyfta.

As 2021 draws to a close, we wanted to use the opportunity to reflect on what we've managed to achieve in 2021, the lessons we've learned along the way, and say a huge thank you to the wonderful Lyfta community that has supported us throughout.

CEO, Serdar Ferit and Head of Educational, Dr Harriet Marshall attended COP26, as world leaders committed to taking some decisive action on the climate emergency. In this blog, Serdar looks at some key takeaways for educators.

Take advantage of virtual school trips with Lyfta. Meet people and explore the world with 6 free storyworlds.

On 6th and 12th July over 100 classes from schools across the UK participated in our latest Lyfta live lesson. We explored the 'Home Wasn't Built in a Day' storyworld and focused on school transition: preparing students for the next adventure.

2023 marked the 25th anniversary of Refugee Week which took place from 19th to 25th June. This annual event, celebrated worldwide, is aimed at raising awareness of the resilience, strength, and contributions of refugees. It provides a valuable opportunity for schools to educate students on this important topic. Read on for 5 powerful free resources to explore with your class.

Did you know that you can use your PE and Sport Premium to enrich your school curriculum for PE and beyond through our immersive human stories? Find out more here.

Meet Ximena in Mexico, Maria in Colombia and Jay in Canada; midwives delivering babies in different and highly challenging situations. Introducing three storyworlds where students will learn about pregnancy, midwifery practices and health inequalities.

Transport for London station officer Sylvain who moved to London from Cote d'ivoire via France and made it his mission to bring smiles to commuters who pass through his station. This storyworld and associated lesson plans and resources will teach students about multicultural London and explore themes of loneliness, mental health and wellbeing.

Celebrating world festivals and occasions in the classroom not only raises awareness amongst children about different faiths, worldviews and cultures, but also helps to instil pride and a sense of belonging in children about their own culture and background. This blog explores the festival of Ramadan and how educators can support students and open up classroom discussion.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Boxing Clever, where students can meet Catherine, the first Ugandan female boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Ethiopian Treasures and meet 10 year old Asalif and see how he turns other people's discarded items and turns them into his own treasure.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Webs of Hope. Meet a mysterious individual who feels powerful in his disguise and uses it to create awareness on social media. He protests against Sudan's military dictatorship that has overthrown their democratic government.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Music is my Social Tool from Brazil. Meet Izandra and learn about her passion for music and her efforts to make classical music accessible to all.

Christmas is coming and it's one faith celebration that most Europeans know all about and are happy to participate in, even if they aren't practising Christians. In this blog, we've suggested 5 ways you can use the Lyfta platform to celebrate Christmas in the classroom.

We've come up with some end-of-term activities that will keep students engaged and inspired as the festive break approaches. Here are six fun and impactful end-of-term activities and teaching resources for primary schools to make the last few lessons ones to remember.

Concentration levels start to flag in the run-up to Christmas and it can be hard to keep students focused. Here are six fun and impactful end-of-term activities and teaching resources for secondary schools to make the last few lessons ones to remember.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Home Wasn't Built in a Day from Somaliland and Finland. Students will meet 12 year old Jasmin who is leaving Finland to move to Somaliland. Adapting to change can be hard to overcome, however the more Jasmin learns about this new place, the more comfortable she becomes.

Celebrating different faith festivals, holidays and occasions at school not only raises awareness amongst children about other faiths and cultures, but it can also instil pride in children to talk about days that are important in their own culture. Here are seven ideas to celebrate Hanukkah and spark discussion in the classroom.

Mental health and wellbeing continues to be a major concern for schools, with the ongoing impact of the pandemic increasing pressure on services. Lyfta provides a powerful teaching resource using positive human stories that support mental health and wellbeing discussions in the classroom.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: A Father's Legacy from Indonesia, and meet Ahen - a spirit medium and leader in family and the community. Find out why the role of tatung is important and delve deeper into the fascinating history and tradition behind it.

Meet Mohamed who lives in the South Sinai desert of Egypt. Mohamed has had a deep connection and respect for camels since he was a child. In this storyworld students will experience stunning 360° scenes and soundscapes of the desert. Teaching resources cover topics like camels, animals in tourism and the diversity of modern-day Egypt.

Meet marine biologist Paula, researching ocean bird populations off the coast of Galicia, northern Spain. In this storyworld, students will experience the sights and sounds of this remote island in 360° and learn about the amazing shearwater bird species who live there. Students will discover how the ocean is critical for all life on Earth and consider the ways we can protect the planet’s biggest ecosystem; our one ocean.

We are excited to present 5 new Lyfta storyworlds for summer term 2023, introducing your students to even more people, places and perspectives!

Meet Aci, a disability activist in Indonesia. After facing sudden physical disability, she initiates a disability community project, working with disabled people and campaigning for their rights. Students will learn about intersectionality and disability activism in this storyworld.

Meet Ximena in Mexico, Maria in Colombia and Jay in Canada; midwives delivering babies in different and highly challenging situations. Introducing three storyworlds where students will learn about pregnancy, midwifery practices and health inequalities.

Transport for London station officer Sylvain who moved to London from Cote d'ivoire via France and made it his mission to bring smiles to commuters who pass through his station. This storyworld and associated lesson plans and resources will teach students about multicultural London and explore themes of loneliness, mental health and wellbeing.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Boxing Clever, where students can meet Catherine, the first Ugandan female boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games.

We are excited to announce 5 new storyworlds for our January 2023 release. Introducing inspiring, real human stories from Sudan, Brazil, Iran, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Ethiopian Treasures and meet 10 year old Asalif and see how he turns other people's discarded items and turns them into his own treasure.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Webs of Hope. Meet a mysterious individual who feels powerful in his disguise and uses it to create awareness on social media. He protests against Sudan's military dictatorship that has overthrown their democratic government.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Music is my Social Tool from Brazil. Meet Izandra and learn about her passion for music and her efforts to make classical music accessible to all.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Summer Village, Winter Village from Iran. Students can meet Shahnaz, a 15 year old girl who dreams of becoming a writer. She fights a patriarchal society that has different expectations of girls.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Home Wasn't Built in a Day from Somaliland and Finland. Students will meet 12 year old Jasmin who is leaving Finland to move to Somaliland. Adapting to change can be hard to overcome, however the more Jasmin learns about this new place, the more comfortable she becomes.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: A Father's Legacy from Indonesia, and meet Ahen - a spirit medium and leader in family and the community. Find out why the role of tatung is important and delve deeper into the fascinating history and tradition behind it.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Space Mission Lucy - USA. Meet space scientists, Donya and Cathy, working on the Lucy space mission. Students can experience the Rocket Garden, Kennedy Space Centre, behind the scenes at NASA and the Milky Way in 360 scenes.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Choose Your Character from the United Kingdom. Students can meet 13 year old Arlo in London. Arlo has autism and has struggled to fit in and to perceive others' emotions.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: Last Child of Arki from Greece. Meet Kristos, the only child of 30 people on the Greek island of Arki. Find out what he does in his spare time without friends of his own age. Explore the island and learn about the rural life in Arki.

Explore Lyfta storyworld: The People's Philosopher from Brazil. Meet YouTuber Marcelo who uses social media to bring philosophy to an online audience.