31 August 2006

Scottish children find the right track for massive maps delivery

Primary schools across Scotland have begun registering for one of the biggest educational initiatives of its kind – the offer of a free Ordnance Survey map for every 11-year-old pupil.

Cairns Primary School in Cambuslang led the way with the first online order just minutes after the scheme opened.

This is the fifth year that Ordnance Survey has made available free OS Explorer Maps for pupils, with more than 700,000 maps distributed across Great Britain each year. The map, worth £7.49, becomes the pupil’s personal property for use at home as well as school. By the end of this year’s scheme, a potential 3.8 million children overall will have benefited by having a map of their own to keep.

"These maps are a fantastic free resource for pupils and staff," says Trevor Gray, head teacher at Cairns Primary School. "They provide a great link with the environment around the school and can really help develop children’s mapping skills. Because the children can take their map out of school, they can use it to follow up on class work at home. Parents are really appreciative, and because the maps are local that makes it all the more relevant."

The Free maps for 11-year-olds initiative was launched following research that showed that pupils with personal access to maps had significantly better developed map skills. The scheme aims to provide all children, irrespective of home or school circumstances, with a map of their own while also helping to support school map resources.

"We want to help children experience both the fun and the value of geography," says Ordnance Survey’s Education Manager, Roger Jeans. "We hope schools will register straight away so that we can process the orders and deliver all the maps as early in the academic year as possible."

As well as receiving free maps this year, pupils can enter a competition to win a fabulous day out filming with Channel 4 Television's Time Team. The winners will attend one of the filming days of a Time Team dig and will be able to meet the team and see all the work that goes into making these programmes. Entry forms accompany the delivery of the maps. 

To take advantage of the scheme, teachers must place their order online by 31 October 2006 on the Ordnance Survey website, www.ordnancesurvey/freemapsfor11yearolds.

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Chief Press Officer - Scott Sinclair

Email: scott.sinclair@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2265

Senior Press Officer - Bryn Jones

Email: bryn.jones@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 023 8079 2708

Press Office fax: (+44) 023 8030 5295