bitesize biodiversity

Bitesize Biodiversity is a growing community of educators that come together every Monday to learn about the wonders of Irish biodiversity. We meet at a weekly 15 minute online session run as a partnership between the ISSN, Education Support Centres Ireland, Green-Schools and Biodiversity in Schools available to all teachers in Ireland. The aim of this program is to provide teachers with education and fun facts on Irish flora and fauna. We examine one species at a time each week.

REGISTER HERE

A New Season in Nature Education:

Join the Bitesize Biodiversity Movement

what is a New Season in Nature Education?

In Jan-Feb 2026 alongside our weekly Bitesize Biodiversity Sessions on Mondays we ran a celebration of a New Season in Nature Education, to encourage teachers all across the country to join our Bitesize Biodiversity Movement.

During this Spring season we learned about the Wren, the Swan, The Snowdrop, Rushes and The Atlantic Salmon in Bitesize detail.

what happened Beyond our weekly sessions?

We hosted 2 interactive meetings and had a number of prizes.

Here are the lucky prizewinners

  • Week 1: Sophie Leach, Galway Educate Together Secondary School

  • Week 2: Grace Jordan, Esker ETNS

  • Week 3: Mark Phair, St Joseph’s Secondary School Drogheda

  • Week 4: Sinead Corrigan, Colaiste Bhaile Chlair Galway

the new season campaign

The national launch formed part of the New Season in Nature Education campaign, to encourage school teachers across Ireland to join our wonderful Bitesize Biodiversity community, when they can, for just 15 minutes each week to learn about Irish biodiversity.

Each Bitesize Biodiversity session takes place weekly at 4pm, allowing teachers to learn together and immediately bring biodiversity learning into their classrooms.

“I love the 15 minutes of biodiversity each week. The format is fab and I learn something new every time. “I love bringing little snippets of information into my classes, and focusing on one species each week is great for my brain. Thank you to all involved.” said Michelle Hardiman, a teacher at Firhouse Educate Together Secondary School.


Watch our campaign videos here

campaign events - jan-feb 2026

  • Bitesize - The Swan

    19th January 4-4.15pm

    Laura kicked off our first Bitesize event for the Campaign period with a focus on Swans.

  • Bitesize - The Snowdrop

    26 January 4-4.15pm

    In our second week we started with the Snowdrop as our Bitesize session with Mark Nolan, Biodiversity in Schools.

  • Comrá Cuppas Special Bitesize

    28 January 7-8pm

    A Special feature of our Comhrá Cuppas where we were joined by Natalie, Orla and Catherine for lightning talks on biodiversity.

  • Bitesize - Rushes Special Event

    3rd February 4-4.15pm

    In our 3rd week of the campaign we held a Special Bitesize Biodiversity Session where Patrick Kirwan told us all about Rushes. We celebrated renewal and Ireland’s biodiversity heritage for St Brigid’s Day.

  • Bitesize - Atlantic Salmon

    9 February 4-4.15pm

    In our last week of the campaign we moved on to learn about the Atlantic Salmon.

  • panel Discussion

    10 February 7-7.40pm

    We closed the campaign month with our final event where we brought together Educational Leaders in this exciting panel event.

the schedule for Spring 2026

We are delighted to announce the schedule for Spring 2026.

SIgn up here

how bitesize works

What are the benefits of the programme?

Beyond becoming part of a wider teaching community interested in biodiversity, everyone that attends is sent the PowerPoint presentation that includes information and activities that teachers can use to bring nature inside their classroom. They also receive a CPD certificate based on the number of sessions they attended at the end of a term. We also provide species-of-the-week announcements that double as daily prompts to help bring nature into your school

Who is this programme for?

It is perfect for Primary and Secondary teachers and a valuable asset for subjects like wellbeing, CSPE, and SPHE. It is also a great resource for SNAs and Student teachers.

How does it work?

Sign up to our weekly sessions to join our community of educators through the button above.

Please be informed that CPD Certificates of Attendance will be issued in May, following the final session of the school year.

what teachers are saying 

WHAT ARE TEACHERS SAYING ABOUT BITESIZE?

  • "Great Resource. We Share using TV screen displays around school"

  • "This is a wonderful initiative and I find it really interesting and accessible”

  • "We love these sessions. I didn’t realise how much biodiversity we have in our school"

  • "I find each week so interesting and look so forward to it on a Monday evening"

  • "PowerPoints are excellent and easily integrated in SSE lessons or used as stimulus for writing, art or drama"

have a look at some of the types of species we have covered in the past

If you would like to access the materials for previous sessions or to learn more please email us on info@issn.ie

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