NI children’s author Yvonne Fleming helping to deliver environmental awareness in schools in English and Irish with the help of The Weatherbies

The partnership is the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland and will offer Early Years, Foundation and Key Stage 1 pupils the opportunity to learn about climate change through animation and song from The Weatherbies children’s stories and characters.

Teachers and pupils will have access to online learning resources produced by Twinkl, which will be available in both English and Irish.

The Weatherbies are a collection of stories based on a community of loveable weather themed characters including Sammy Sun, Rosie Rainbow, Colin Cloud, Flo Snow, Ronny Rain, Willy Wind and many more, designed to entertain, excite and educate children, with striking visual imagery, original captivating music and intuitive narrative.

The characters both encourage and enjoy recycling, eating healthily, growing fruit and vegetables, reading books, using renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.

The concept aims to inspire children to look up to the sky, see and feel the weather as a friend, one that can both nurture and be nurtured.

The partnership with Eco-schools and Twinkl will encourage children to be more aware of climate change and how we can all play our own part in protecting the world around us.

Yvonne, an experienced childminder, established The Weatherbies in 2009.

She said: "I am delighted to be partnered with Eco-Schools and Twinkl, I feel it is a great opportunity to work with them to help educate children on environmental awareness, something we all feel is so important to teach children about.

"When we started working with Eco-Schools it was brilliant for me to hear that they felt The Weatherbies was the perfect fit for them in helping bring fun lessons to children, and with Twinkl’s excellent work, I feel that these lessons will be really engaging for the children and help them understand the world around them more. I look forward to what the future holds with our partnership as we continue to educate children on how to look after our environment and make a difference.

“It’s been great to finally achieve a long-time goal of mine, to have my books translated into Irish. When I was going around the primary schools, I would be frequently asked if I would translate my books, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m really excited that we are able to develop both our online content and Twinkl’s teaching resources in Irish alongside the English versions.”

Yvonne and her husband Peter have two children – Steven, 22, and Shane, 18.

The Maghera woman used to run a hair and beauty salon, then became a childminder after having her two boys.

She said: "When I started this away back in the day, I thought I’ll do a wee book for my boys. For the books now to be taken on board into the schools to teach very important topics to the kids is just unreal. To see Twinkl rescources developed around the characters and the stories has blown me away.”

Charlene McKeown, Eco-Schools Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “We are all huge fans of the The Weatherbies books, and it is with great excitement that we enter into this partnership at the start of a new school year. Intertwining with our already blossoming relationship with Twinkl, the partnership will ensure that fantastic educational literature is matched by brilliant teaching and learning materials, to give schools much-needed resources to teach climate change awareness at an appropriate level to our youngest learners.”

Susan Ferguson from Twinkl commented: “At Twinkl, we believe in supporting educators and in helping those who teach. With these fantastic resources, we will be providing vital material to teachers across the country, enabling them to promote environmental awareness in their young learners.

"We believe with The Weatherbies resources at hand, teachers will feel empowered. They will have the confidence to tackle difficult topics regarding climate change in their classrooms. We are very excited to see these resources in use and to see how beneficial they are for our young learners."

For more information on The Weatherbies, please visit www.theweatherbies.co.uk

About The Weatherbies

The Weatherbies are a collection of kids stories based on a community of loveable, weather themed characters each with their own stories and personalities. The Weatherbies entertain, excite, and educate children. They are a community of friends who enjoy recycling, eating healthily, growing fruit and vegetables, reading books, using solar and wind power, as well as helping, playing, and sharing with others as they go about their adventures around ‘Skytown’.

Over the years their creator, Yvonne Fleming, has spent time visiting schools and childcare facilities, directly engaging with the pupils and teachers.

Having been encouraged by the successful reaction to her characters by the children and their teachers & parents, her company has gone on to develop a television series based on the Weatherbies characters and their stories.

Recently the company signed a TV distribution deal with Hemisphere Distribution in December 2021 and engaged Jodi Reynolds, the script writer for Peter Rabbit, to work on the pilot.

In November 2021, they launched their Digital First Strategy to make The Weatherbies more accessible to a wider international audience by creating online content like animated videos, songs, graphic designs, and animated book readings.