Lyfta is 6! - Lyfta Blog

Lyfta is 6!

Back to how it all started

In 2016 we visited a school in Ipswich, eager to test our immersive Awra Amba stories out on pupils. The response we had there was truly amazing. It was clear that the children were deeply engaged with the content and that this had been a rich and valuable learning experience for them. We knew at that moment we had found our audience and our purpose. Lyfta was born.

The last 6 years

Over the past 6 years we have built and strengthened our collection of immersive spaces. We now have 56 storyworlds from around the world, 17 of which have been launched in the last year, and we have an exciting programme of new content being released each term.

Introducing Lyfta starter and Lyfta Time

Top 5 Lyfta time lessons last year

This year we introduced Lyfta starter, a new and fast way to get started with Lyfta for free. New users can now create an account that gives indefinite access to two storyworlds and 20 lesson plans.

We also introduced Lyfta Time, weekly 20 minute sessions that provide an easy way to get started with Lyfta in the classroom. Our top taught Lyfta time lessons this year include Rob in Cornwall from our Beachcomber storyworld (available for free when you sign up for Lyfta Starter), and Flora in Shipetiari from our Amazonian Treats storyworld.

Searching for new voices

As well as highlighting diverse narratives, we want diversity of voices and perspectives telling those stories. We are always looking for new stories and have storyworlds in production in Brazil, Greece, Iran and Indonesia, amongst others. Watch this space!

A growing team

We are fortunate to work with an absolutely phenomenal group of people. Everyone who has joined Lyfta has done so because they believe in our mission and each one has a strong desire to make a difference in the world. Empathy, honesty, transparency and creativity have been identified by our team as some of our key lived values. We are also on the lookout for new colleagues, so if you'd like to join us on our journey, keep an eye on our jobs page.

Supporting the Lyfta community

Afnan in storyworld More Than a Game

Throughout the past year, our engagement team has been busy supporting Lyfta users to get the most from the platform with valuable weekly content and resources around key dates such as Mental Health Week, Earth Day, Fairtrade Fortnight and Anti-Bullying Week, as well as around important themes across the year like diversity, equity and inclusion, biodiversity, sustainability and how to bring PSHE and RSHE to life.

As well as our regular Lyfta training sessions, we also now run regular CPD for subscribers, including recent courses on courageous conversations about race in the classroom and our work with PE teachers in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust. We are delighted with the feedback we have on these resources and are glad to be able to support teachers to use Lyfta to engage meaningfully with important topics.

"Hearing different stories has opened up my pupils minds to new ideas and many of them have been keen to learn more."

HALEEMA AHMED

TEACHER, THREE BRIDGES SCHOOL

Looking back at the past year

Top 5 storyworlds last year

Lyfta was created with the desire to inspire future generations to make a positive impact in the world through uplifting human stories, and we have been working hard over the last few years with our teacher community towards this shared purpose.

Today, we can say that we have:

Worked with over 2000 schools around the world
Trained over 10,000 teachers
Reached around 250,000 children with our storyworlds
Published 56 different storyworlds with more being added to the collection each term.

It has been a pleasure seeing the innovative ways schools have been using Lyfta resources in the classroom over the last 12 months. Read more about the impact the platform is having in schools across the UK on our impact page here.

When we ask teachers about their favourite content, there is a huge variety of responses, however, winners over the last 12 months in terms of lessons favourited and launched on the platform are clear.

Beachcomber from the UK
Andrea's Yard from Argentina
Habiba's Home from Finland
Amazonian Treats from Peru
Big Ballet from Finland

The most used and favourited resource over the last 12 months is Beachcomber, exploring sustainability, ocean plastic and responsibility for the environment. The good news is, this storyworld and associated lesson and assembly plans can be accessed free by signing up for a Lyfta Starter account. It takes less than a minute and no credit card is required. Sign up for an account here.

"It is a really powerful way to share stories from around the world with the children. It is well worth doing."

HEATHER CASSIDY

TEACHER, ST MARIE'S PRIMARY SCHOOL

Our desire to inspire and empower teachers and children to grasp their role in building a fairer, more sustainable world is stronger than ever. Our vision is that by the time a child completes their education, they will have been to every country in the world, having experienced real human stories in each place they visited. They'll have seen numerous life situations, jobs, skills, values, perspectives - all at play in the real world. We've made large strides towards our mission this year, and we are really excited to see what the next year brings.

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