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Teachers writing and dressed warmly outside at the Eden Project

Eden Project Teacher weekends

Purpose and Wellbeing for People and Planet.

This unique professional-development weekend enables early career teachers, emerging leaders and curriculum leaders to step out of the classroom and reconnect with the purpose that brought them into education. In the inspirational setting of the Eden Project, participants combine personal restoration with practical learning, expert input, coaching and supportive professional relationships. 

 

What do our participants say?

Participant

“ It has been a truly amazing experience and I cannot thank the Eden Project enough. I feel relaxed, reflective and ready to take on the term ahead. ”

A deliberately balanced programme

Women sat outside writing in a notebook
1

Wellbeing and restoration - Protected time to slow down, experience Eden and reconnect with the person behind the professional role.

Wobbly bridge stretching across the canopy of Eden's Rainforest Biome
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Bespoke out-of-hours activities in the Eden Project Biomes

Teacher taking part in craft activity
3

Inspiring input on wider world contexts

Hands laying leaves and flowers on cotton to make a natural dye print
4

Inspiration and practice - Speakers and workshops exploring professional purpose and pupil engagement through Eden’s lens of nature, transformation and sustainability.

Adults standing outside in a circle doing training at the Eden Project
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Coaching and next steps - Facilitated reflection and group coaching that help participants turn insight into practical, achievable action in school.

Hands serving salad
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Generous catering including pizza in the Mediterranean and a proper Cornish cream tea

Early Career Teacher Weekends at the Eden Project

A weekend focused on the “why” of teaching and leading — not just the “what” and “how”

Did you know?

Only 75.8% of teachers who qualified three years earlier were still teaching in England’s state-funded sector in 2024/25. Retaining good people requires more than workload initiatives alone: teachers also need purpose, belonging, confidence, professional agency and sustaining relationships.

Keeping the flame alive

Teachers writing in chalk on the paths in front of Eden's Biomes

Alex Bell, co-founder of the Eden Project ECT weekends

“What you teach will change over time. How you teach will improve and get better over time.  But why you teach… that’s the precious flame we’ve got to nurture and intensify not diminish.”

Why schools should invest

Every departure affects more than a staffing spreadsheet. It consumes recruitment and leadership time, interrupts continuity for pupils and families, and increases pressure on the colleagues who remain. This weekend gives schools a distinctive way to invest in the human foundations of retention: professional purpose, wellbeing, relationships, confidence and growth.

A direct contribution to Whole Education’s mission

Whole Education is a network of leaders building schools that provide a rigorous holistic education, so that everyone thrives in a transforming world. The weekend strengthens that work by helping early career teachers and emerging leaders connect rigorous professional learning with personal purpose, relationships, place, nature and the wider development of children and adults. 

What participants gain

Across five years of participant feedback, 100% of respondents have said that they would highly recommend the weekend to another teacher. Participants report the following gains:

  • renewed clarity about why they teach and the contribution they want to make;
  • practical ideas for nature-rich, sustainability-focused and outdoor learning;
  • greater confidence in their professional identity and emerging leadership;
  • strategies for protecting energy and remaining effective in a demanding profession;
  • supportive relationships with educators beyond their own school;
  • time to identify realistic priorities to take back into their role and setting. 

Lasting value for the school

The weekend is designed as professional development, not an isolated wellbeing experience. Participants identify one or two relevant priorities to take back to school, share useful learning and resources with colleagues, and leave with a clearer sense of how they can contribute. Where appropriate, a follow-up conversation can help participants review progress and sustain momentum without creating an additional reporting burden.

For schools and trusts, the investment supports:

  • retention, professional commitment and a stronger sense of belonging;
  • confidence and emerging leadership capacity;
  • fresh curriculum, pupil-engagement and nature-rich learning ideas;
  • stronger professional networks and reduced isolation;
  •  a visible commitment to valuing and developing staff. 

Who facilitates the weekend?

The programme is facilitated by Alex Bell — an award-winning leadership and innovation coach at Portland Education — working alongside the Eden Project Education Team and, where agreed, contributors from the Whole Education network. It combines educational leadership, professional coaching, nature connection and Eden’s distinctive approach to learning and transformation.

The programme takes place in the breathtaking setting of the Eden Project in Cornwall. 

How to book

If you'd like to learn more about these weekends or discuss how we can work together to create an ECT weekend for your group of schools or multi-academy trust, please contact education@edenproject.com. 

 

Commissioning Trusts and school

Commissioning school

“ Alex and the team at Eden are expert purveyors of hope, people whose dreams have become reality because of their values. ”

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