Southborough students collaborate on exciting new project with Natural History Museum

With Southborough situated in close proximity to London and therefore having easy access to many of its fabulous attractions, the Natural History Museum is ‘up there’ as one of the school’s favourite places to visit. Exhibits cover the Earth’s history, including meteorites and volcanic activity, as well as the evolution of life from its origins through to the present day

Today, the Natural History Museum welcomes a large and increasing number of visitors annually; the museum saw a record -breaking 6.3 million visitors in 2024 and is expecting a further increase to 6.4 million in 2025.

The Natural History Museum's latest major projects include a £150 million, long-term transformation for its 150th anniversary in 2031, involving the restoration of existing galleries, the opening of new ones like the young people's space and the Origins gallery, and the relocation of collections to a new Science and Digitisation Centre opening in 2026. They have also completed the Urban Nature Project, transforming their gardens into a public green space and living laboratory for urban biodiversity.

Our collaboration with the museum!

One other of their latest projects includes the new ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’ gallery, opening in April 2025. As the first permanent gallery to open since 2016, this focuses on challenges facing the planet and empowers visitors to act for a sustainable future.

But for us, one of the most exciting things about this particular project is that students from Southborough were invited to collaborate with them!

Earlier in the summer term, our enthusiastic Eco-Club and Science students embarked on an exciting super-curricular trip to the Natural History Museum. This visit was part of a Student Consultation aimed at developing resources for the museum’s upcoming ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’ exhibit which showcases the incredible ways scientists have been investigating climate change over the years.

The students had the unique opportunity to explore the exhibit, and they learned about the profound effects’ humans have had on our planet and its diverse species. The exhibit was not only educational but also inspiring, highlighting the importance of taking action to protect our environment.

Last week, Southborough was delighted to welcome Emily from the Natural History Museum into school to work on this exciting project with a selection of our Year 8, 9 and 10 students. After an interesting talk from Emily, our students were asked to come up with and design some ideas for the signs and symbols to be used in the gallery guide. We were thrilled to see so many interesting concepts delivered by our boys and think it’s really ‘cool’ that, once the new 'Fixing Our Broken Planet' gallery is officially opened, potentially millions of visitors will see our students’ handiwork!!!!