Northbourne Park Pre-Prep children get up close and personal with nature
Posted on 6th Jun 2017 in School News
All the children in Northbourne Park’s Nursery and Pre-Prep have been getting up close and personal with nature recently taking part in the new RSPB Giving Nature a Home ‘Wild Challenge’, and on Tuesday June 6 received their Bronze Award Certificates having met the criteria required to complete the Bronze Award level.
The ‘Wild Challenge’ is a scheme for schools run by the RSPB encouraging children to help wildlife and explore nature. This is ideal for pupils at Northbourne Park as we love to inspire our children to connect, care and understand the nature around us, enabling the children to work towards these Awards within their weekly Forest School sessions.
The ‘Wild Challenge’ involves 24 fun activities to choose from and bronze, silver and gold awards to achieve depending on how many activities are completed. The activities are divided into two sections: Help Nature and Experience Nature.
Last term our Nursery and Pre-Prep children were very busy creating an action plan for the school focusing on what we have, what we are missing and what we would like to provide for the nature within the school.
The children studied the wildlife surrounding the school, and looked at the variety of animals within the school grounds, exploring and identifying their habitats and creating their own maps in a variety of wonderful ways. The children also looked at animal tracks and made tracking boxes in the hope of catching a footprint in action!
All of this activity inspired the children and staff to build a wildlife corner and create habitat heaps such as log piles androck piles. A bug city was constructed with a variety of bug hotels and Class 2 children created a hedgehog house and bee house, planting spring flowers and bulbs to attract nature to the area.
We focused on birds and made a variety of different bird feeders and everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch. Everyone was amazed to see the broad variety of birds that visit our school.
Mrs Priscilla Smith, Head of Northbourne Park’s Forest School and Outdoor Education said: "After busy uploading our fantastic photographs of all our hard work to the RSPB ‘Wild Challenge’ website we are all delighted to hear that every child in every class has been awarded their first Bonze Level Award.
"Well done to all of the children and staff for all of the support for these new awards and I think the children have thoroughly enjoyed achieving them.
"This is a fantastic scheme which allows our children to learn and engage with the nature and wildlife all around and we are extremely fortunate that the children have the opportunity to spend time and play in such a beautiful woodland setting, which has an abundance of wildlife."
The children are thoroughly delighted with their Bronze Award and are now all inspired to take on the next challenges set for the Silver Award.
These are the challenges that were completed:
- Habitat heaps – making a rock pile/ log pile
- Homes for mini beasts bug city/ bees
- Wild life detecting – mini beast hunt/ habitat hunts
- Pond dipping
- Bird watch
- Planting for wildlife
- Homes for mammals/hedgehog house
- Food/water for wildlife pine cone feeders/orange feeders set up bird feeders
- Habitat explorer animal tracking/walk identifying different habitats
- Biodiversity action plan