How VR Workshops Support the New Academic Year's Curriculum
Every September, teachers across Yorkshire and beyond do the same thing: they unpack a new set of planning documents, revisit their medium-term plans, and ask themselves how they're going to make this year's topics land differently to last year's. The content is familiar. The challenge — genuinely engaging pupils in material they've never experienced — never gets easier.
This September, that challenge comes with an added layer. The Curriculum and Assessment Review, published by the DfE in November 2025 and accepted by government earlier this year, confirmed that a revised National Curriculum will be published in spring 2027 for first teaching from September 2028. That means the 2026/27 academic year is, in effect, a planning year — the last full year under the existing curriculum before the biggest reform to English education since 2014 begins to take shape. Schools that use this year to embed genuinely effective, evidence-backed approaches to the topics they're already teaching will be significantly better placed when the new programmes of study arrive.
Virtual reality workshops are, we'd argue, exactly that kind of approach. Here's why — and here's how they map to what you're already teaching this year.
What the Curriculum Review Actually Means for Your Classroom Right Now
Before we get into the VR specifics, it's worth being clear about what the review does and doesn't mean for September 2026.
First teaching of the new curriculum doesn't begin until September 2028. The programmes of study are still being drafted — consultation on the new subject-level content opens this autumn. So for the 2026/27 academic year, you are still teaching the existing National Curriculum. Nothing changes yet.
What does change — and what's worth planning around now — are three significant signals from the review about where curriculum emphasis is heading:
Oracy is becoming central. The review places significant weight on spoken language, discussion, and the ability to articulate ideas clearly. This isn't a future change — oracy has been a named focus in schools since 2025, and OFSTED inspectors are increasingly looking for it in lesson design.
Citizenship is becoming compulsory in primary schools. Currently statutory only at KS3 and KS4, Citizenship will become a primary subject from 2028, covering democracy, climate, financial literacy, and media literacy. Schools that start building pupil awareness now — through enrichment, PSHE, and cross-curricular hooks — will be well ahead.
Climate change and sustainability are explicitly required. The new Citizenship framework specifically names climate and sustainability as statutory content. For Science and Geography departments already teaching these topics, the direction of travel is clear: this isn't enrichment any more, it's core curriculum.
None of this requires you to rip up your planning for September 2026. But it does point clearly toward the kinds of experiences that will serve your pupils — and your school's OFSTED position — best over the next two years.
How VR Workshops Map to What You're Teaching This Term
Let's be specific. Here are the key topic areas across Science, Geography, and History at KS1, KS2 and KS3, and how a Discover VR session maps directly onto each one.
Science
Space, Earth, and Beyond Our Space VR workshop places pupils inside the solar system — walking on the lunar surface, orbiting Earth, and witnessing the scale of the universe firsthand. This maps directly to the KS2 Science programme of study for Earth and Space, covering the movement of the Earth relative to the Sun, the Moon, and other planets, and the role of the Sun as a star. For KS3, it extends naturally into Physics units on forces, gravity, and the wider universe.
The critical difference between a textbook diagram and a VR experience is embodiment. When a pupil stands on the surface of Mars and looks back at Earth as a blue dot in the distance, they understand scale in a way no diagram can communicate. That understanding sticks.
Plate Tectonics and Earth Processes Volcanoes, earthquakes, and the movement of tectonic plates are notoriously difficult to teach with genuine impact. They're processes that happen over millions of years or in terrifying seconds — neither of which is easy to recreate in a classroom. Our Plate Tectonics workshop puts pupils inside an active volcanic environment, letting them witness geological forces up close in a way that connects directly to the KS3 Geography and Science objectives around Earth's structure, tectonic activity, and natural hazards.
Climate Change and Sustainability This is perhaps the most timely of all our Science workshops given the curriculum direction confirmed this year. Pupils stand on a melting glacier, dive into bleached coral reefs, and visit communities facing displacement from rising seas. The curriculum link is explicit — KS2 Geography's environmental change and sustainable development objectives, KS3 Science's ecosystems and food chain content, and the incoming Citizenship requirements around climate that will be statutory from 2028. Schools that start building meaningful climate literacy now are not jumping ahead — they're being pragmatic.
Geography
Ecosystems, Rainforests, and Polar Regions The KS2 Geography programme of study requires pupils to understand the physical characteristics of a range of the world's major biomes — tropical rainforests, polar environments, oceans, and mountain regions. Describing these from a textbook is one thing. Standing inside them — hearing the sounds, seeing the scale, experiencing the contrast between a thriving ecosystem and a degraded one — is something else entirely.
Our Rainforests workshop immerses pupils in the Amazon basin. Our Polar Regions session takes them to Arctic and Antarctic environments. Our Oceans workshop puts them underwater in coral ecosystems and open ocean environments. In each case, the VR experience functions as the hook that makes everything else — the textbook, the discussion, the assessment — more meaningful because pupils have a sensory memory to anchor their learning to.
Mountains, Islands, and Human Geography Our Mountains and Galápagos Islands workshops extend the KS2 and KS3 Geography curriculum into physical geography, biodiversity, and the relationship between human activity and natural environments. The Galápagos session in particular opens rich discussions about evolution, conservation, and what happens when human activity disrupts isolated ecosystems — content that bridges Science and Geography in exactly the cross-curricular way the curriculum review is encouraging.
History
This is an area where VR is genuinely underused in schools, and where the impact tends to surprise teachers most.
Ancient Civilisations Our Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Mayan Civilisation, and Vikings workshops all place pupils inside the built environments and daily life of historical periods in a way no photograph or reconstruction can match. For KS2 History, where pupils are expected to understand the achievements of early civilisations and the legacy of ancient societies, VR provides the experiential hook that turns abstract historical knowledge into something felt and remembered.
World War 1 and Remembrance Our WW1 workshop is one of the most quietly powerful sessions we deliver. Pupils experience environments from the period in a way that builds genuine empathy and understanding — not gratuitous, but honest. For KS3 History covering the causes and consequences of the First World War, and for schools using Remembrance Week as a curriculum anchor in November, this is a session that tends to produce the most reflective, articulate post-session discussions of any topic we deliver.
The Great Fire of London For KS1 and lower KS2, the Great Fire of London is one of the most universally taught History topics in the primary curriculum — and one of the most difficult to bring to life beyond paper flame crafts and timeline displays. A VR experience of 17th-century London gives younger pupils a sense of place, period, and human experience that significantly deepens their engagement with the topic.
The Oracy Connection — Why VR Generates the Conversations That OFSTED Wants to See
One of the most consistent things teachers tell us after a Discover VR session is that the quality of discussion in the lesson that follows is unlike anything they see on a normal day. Pupils who rarely volunteer answers are describing what they saw. Quieter children are using vocabulary they haven't used before. The class is, in the best sense, buzzing.
This isn't accidental — it's a function of shared, embodied experience. When every pupil in the room has seen the same volcanic eruption, stood on the same lunar surface, or dived through the same coral reef, they have a common reference point that generates genuinely rich, varied discussion. Some saw things others didn't notice. Some felt differently about the same experience. The conversation is real, not performed.
Given the curriculum review's emphasis on oracy as a core skill, and OFSTED's increasing focus on the quality of pupil talk as an indicator of curriculum depth, this is worth naming explicitly in your planning documentation. A Discover VR session, followed by a structured discussion or written response, is a legitimate oracy activity — not just an enrichment day.
A Word on Budget — and Why September Is the Right Time to Book
School budgets are under real pressure in 2026/27. Funding has risen only modestly, pay awards continue to absorb discretionary income, and the pressure on enrichment spend is genuine. We understand that — our sessions are priced to be accessible, at £375 for a half day and £530 for a full day, and we offer block booking discounts for schools that want to build us into their annual planning rather than treating us as a one-off.
There's also a practical argument for booking early in the academic year rather than saving enrichment for the summer term. Curriculum topics are introduced in September — Space, Plate Tectonics, Ancient Egypt, Rainforests — and a VR session at the start of a topic functions as a hook that makes everything that follows more effective. A session at the end of a topic, however good, is consolidation. A session at the beginning is transformation.
The schools that get the most from Discover VR are the ones that book us as a curriculum launch, not a reward for finishing. If you're planning your autumn term now, September is exactly the right time to reach out.
Getting Ready for 2028 — The Case for Starting Now
The DfE has confirmed a revised curriculum will be published in spring 2027, giving schools four terms to prepare for the changes.</cite> Those four terms begin now. Schools that spend the 2026/27 academic year experimenting with approaches that develop oracy, climate literacy, and cross-curricular thinking will have a significant head start when the new programmes of study arrive. Schools that wait until 2028 to adapt will be doing it under pressure.
Teachers are already being asked to deliver a modernised curriculum, including compulsory Citizenship teaching in primary schools and an increased emphasis on oracy — not in 2028, but now. The direction of travel is confirmed. The only question is whether your school's enrichment programme is pointed in the same direction.
We think it should be. And we think a Discover VR session is one of the most straightforward, affordable, and impactful ways to get it there.
Book a Session for the 2026/27 Academic Year
We're based in Wakefield and deliver to schools across Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, the Midlands, and beyond. Half and full-day sessions available from September 2026, with dates filling quickly around World Space Week (4–10 October), Remembrance Week (November), and British Science Week (5–14 March 2027).
If you'd like to discuss how a Discover VR workshop could support your curriculum planning for this academic year, get in touch here or browse our full workshop library.
Discover VR is a Wakefield-based mobile VR workshop provider for schools across Yorkshire and beyond. All sessions are curriculum-aligned, delivered by a former classroom teacher of 15 years, and include all equipment. No setup required.
