Sky launches educational initiative to support THE BRITISH

Assets available, free of charge, to every school in the UK

The stories of the most important events in British history will be freely available to all primary and secondary school students in the UK and ROI

London (14 June 2012): SKY today announces an ambitious educational initiative, to accompany SKY ATLANTIC HD’s landmark factual series, THE BRITISH, which will premiere exclusively for Sky customers on the channel this autumn.

Aiming to give pupils an enthralling insight into 2,000 years of the history of Great Britain, the initiative will target pupils from ages 7 – 14 with an educational plan tailored to the series.

As part of this campaign, Sky will produce free, flexible teaching and learning resources for ages 7-11 and 11-14, which will be specifically tailored towards each episode of the seven-part series.

The materials will cover subjects including the Roman invasion of Britain, The Domesday Book, The Caxton Printing Press, and The Great Fire of London amongst others.

The curriculum materials will include images, teaching resources and lesson plans as well as video clips designed to equip every student with key facts and information regarding the history of Great Britain. Schools nationwide will be encouraged to begin a dialogue in classrooms about the history of this nation, in detail and on a broad scale.

All these materials will be available to download from the Sky Skills website free of charge to every school that registers. In addition, a DVD box set of the complete series will be available to the first 5,000 schools that complete the registration and feedback process.

Teachers and schools are now able to register interest in these materials by visiting http://corporate.sky.com/the_bigger_picture to leave their details.

THE BRITISH is a big, ambitious and unmissable new series which tells the history of Britain and Ireland from the Roman invasion to the birth of TV and the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. Spanning two thousand years in seven hours, the series will bring vividly to life through compelling drama and spectacular CGI the real and often surprising stories of the unsung heroes as well as the icons of history.

A chorus of notable and influential celebrities will give their views on what the history of Great Britain means to them.

About the initiative, renowned historian and Professor at Exeter University, Jeremy Black MBE said

“THE BRITISH is an arresting and impressive series which is designed for people who are curious about the history of the country they live in.  The series tells stories from British history and places them firmly within a world context and I think it is really admirable that Sky is offering these resources to schools across the country to support the history curriculum.”

Naomi Gibney, Acting Director of Sky Atlantic, added:

“THE BRITISH is Sky Atlantic’s first foray into high end factual and a natural evolution for channel as it continues to grow into a destination channel that has epic storytelling at its heart. I’m delighted that this distinctive and informative programme will help bring history to life for adults as well as children. “

Celia Taylor, Head of Factual for Sky said:

“This is an epic, beautiful and dramatic retelling of our nation's history and the heroes and heroines who made us who we are today. To be able to give this opportunity to every school child in Britain is something I will be proud of for a very long time.”

Nutopia’s Jane Root, who is Executive Producer, commented:

“The story of Britain and Ireland is an amazing one – it’s a huge privilege for the Nutopia team to be able to spend so much time so close to it. These opportunities, and these types of educational resources, don't come along very often. “

THE BRITISH is part of Sky's commitment to increase its investment in original British content by 50% over the next three years. By 2014, Sky expects to invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels.  Sky Atlantic HD recently announced a major commitment to Factual programming with a significant investment in feature-length documentary films.

THE BRITISH is a Nutopia production for SKY ATLANTIC HD. Celia Taylor is the Executive Producer for Sky. Jane Root, Ben Goold and Peter Lovering are Executive Producers for Nutopia and Sam Starbuck and Michael Waterhouse are Series Producers.

For further information please contact

Megan MacLeod - Publicist, Sky Movies HD, Sky Atlantic HD
T:
E: megan.macleod@bskyb.com

Luke Morrison - Publicity Manager, Sky Atlantic HD
T: 020 7032 1479
E: Luke.Morrison@bskyb.com

Notes to editor

About Sky Skills

Seeing the bigger picture is part and parcel of the way we do business at Sky. That's why we're committed to building a business for the long term and playing our part in the communities where we live and work.

We bring homes to life by delivering great entertainment, making technology simple and connecting people to each other and the world. And we do this by working closely together, solving problems, thinking on our feet and doing the right thing.

We've seen how important these skills are. Now it's time to help young people learn them.

Sky Skills inspires young people to be the best they can be by raising aspirations and building life skills.

To find out more about Sky Skills, please visit http://corporate.sky.com/the_bigger_picture