Potato Growing and Harvesting (Feb - June)

Since February, every class in school has been nurturing and growing potatoes outside their classrooms.

The potato seeds were provided to the school from the "Grow your own potatoes" project (Grow Your Own Potatoes for Primary Schools in UK).

The classes have been enjoying watching their potatoes chit inside their classrooms, planting them out (deciding what they would plant them in) and watching them grow.

Robin class decided to grow theirs in an old washing basket! Other classes used potato growing sacks or making use of old Bags for Life (great reusing of resources!).

On Wednesday 30th June, the whole school gathered in their year groups to harvest the crop!

The children had great fun digging out their potatoes, and then we compared each class' outcomes with the following categories:

Look at some of our potatoes!

A beautiful Sunflower outside Otter Class!

Our sunflower growing hasn't been the most successful, despite planting many seeds! But, look at this lovely one outside Otter classroom (it mysteriously grow in a tyre!)

Litter Picking Loan Equipment

As we approach the end of the academic year, we are evaluating how our environmental and sustainability initiatives have gone this year. 

It has been great to see so many families borrowing our litter picking loan equipment and getting out and about to improve the local area that they live in! We love reading the entries which are written in the record books and hearing about where you went litter picking and what types of litter you found.

This supports us in making the impact of our efforts in school far-reaching into our local community.

We know the system of having the loan equipment in classes for one week on a rota has worked much better, and so we will continue this next academic year.

1st July: Attenborough Avenue - even more added

On our INSET day, some of our lovely members of staff helped turn the top of Year One's pallet minibeast habitat into a planter.

Today, the Year One children Eco Committee planted some lovely pollinator-friendly flowers in it. With Mrs Dear they discussed why it was important for us to plant flowers near the bug habitats.

Attenborough Avenue is looking AMAZING and we look forward to seeing what species make their homes there. 

Make sure you take a look as you walk past!  What minibeasts can you spot?

24th June: We have received a letter from Sir David Attenborough's daughter (on his behalf).

Following our amazing week of activities recognising Sir David Attenborough's 100th Birthday in May, Mrs Dear posted all our letters and birthday cards to him! (it was a big parcel).

Today, we were thrilled to receive a letter thanking us! It is from Sarah Attenborough (his daughter) on behalf of him – as he must have received millions of letters and cards.

Mrs. Dear shared the letter with all the classes.

22nd June: Posters for rubbish bins

The Year Two Eco Committee members met today to complete their posters which show which items need to go into which rubbish bins. This activity, which has been completed over different meetings throughout the year, has supported this group of children to learn and understand  what can and can not be recycled in our area.

Blooming in June: Our Wildflower Patch looks amazing!

Our wildflower patch, just outside the Beyond the Gate fence, is bursting with colour and life—well worth a visit if you haven’t seen it yet!

The Eco Committee are delighted with how it has flourished this year.

Among the beautiful blooms spotted so far are ox-eye daisies, cornflowers, and poppies, creating a vibrant and ever-changing display.

We first established this area in March 2025, when it began as a very narrow strip. Thanks to the team’s hard work last October and again this spring—clearing back brambles and nettles, expanding the space, and sowing additional seeds—it has truly come to life.

Why not take a moment to see how many colours you can spot? It’s a wonderful feast for our pollinators and a lovely reminder of what can grow with a little care and effort.

Visited by a representative from Veolia (the company who collect the waste in Hart) to see our Orchard Trees

This week, Diana Leahy from Veolia (Area Education, Communications and Outreach (ECO) Manager) visited our school to see where we had planted the five apple trees which they had donated to us and take photos for their publications.

Four members of our Eco Committee enthusiastically showed her the trees and told her how we had decided to call the area Attenborough Orchard, as they were planted close to Sir David's birthday and our hope to add more orchard trees over the next few years. 

They were excited to even spot a tiny apple! 

Eco Committee Bug Habitat creation: 17th & 18th June

Look at this amazing minibeast habitat created by the Eco Committee this week, as one of their final actions for the academic year. This will be added to “Attenborough Avenue”.

It was created by filling an old storage box which Mrs Dear had bought. She explained the term “reuse” and how many things can be turned into something completely different rather than being thrown away.

The children filled the container with pine cones, old roof tiles, hay, straw, sticks and even an old storage box for scissors which had the perfect size holes for solitary bees (another example of reusing a product).

After discussion, the children chose to call their microhabitat “Attenborough’s Attic” and started creating a sign for it by hammering nails into the letter shapes.

We can’t wait to see what minibeasts move in!

Wednesday 17th June: Bin Audit update

This morning, the Eco Committee carried out their final bin audit of the academic year. Each class brought along their two bins, and the team carefully checked whether waste had been sorted correctly—moving any misplaced items into the right bins.

Mrs Dear was delighted to see how much progress the children have made, with a much clearer understanding of what belongs in each bin.

Encouragingly, there were far fewer items in the wrong bins compared to previous audits, showing a real improvement across the school.

The group also discussed key messages to share with their classes, including the importance of emptying plastic bottles and cans, removing sticky tape from paper before recycling, and thinking twice before throwing away paper that could be reused as scrap.

Hygiene was also a priority, and the children made sure to wash their hands thoroughly after completing the audit.

 

Our school compost area is still being developed—meaning the launch of the new colour-coded bins and food waste bins will now take place in September—the children agreed that there has already been a significant improvement since the first audit in December.

Friday 12th June: Reviewing our Eco Code and planting flowers around the minibeast habitats

Today, the Eco Committee met to review our school Eco Code. As a group, they discussed the current code (written by last year’s committee) and agreed on which points were still important and should be kept. They identified two points that could be removed, as these ideas were already covered elsewhere, and then turned their attention to what could replace them.

The children suggested several ideas, including sorting waste properly (linked to our litter picking and bin audits), being responsible when lighting fires (following recent local wildfires and our discussions during Beyond the Gate Forest School sessions), shutting blinds at night to conserve energy, and encouraging parents to switch off car engines while parked.

After discussing why each of these suggestions was relevant and important, the group decided they could only add two new points. The children voted, and it was agreed to include “sorting rubbish into the correct bins” and “shutting blinds at night,” as these were actions that could be directly implemented within school.

Here is our new school Eco Code (which will be shared in an up-and-coming assembly and our newsletter:

Following this, we went outside to the new minibeast habitat area at the front of the school to plant some pollinator-friendly plants around the structures. These included lavender (which we know is perfect for bees!) and some Lambs ear (which is really soft and ladybirds seem to like) and Sisyrinchuim Striatum which came from Mrs. Dear's garden.

They also all planted a sunflower seed, using an auger to help make the hole.

10th June: Look at how our planting around school is going

Otter's nasturtiums from Wisley, which they planted in tyres, are now flowering! And there is even a sneaky sunflower growing.

And, Robin class have successfully looked after their pea plants and this week have planted them out into the prepared planters outside their classroom. They have also added some marigolds as a companion plant.

A massive thank you to Mr Whythe for repairing the planters so we could continue using them. And Mrs Hill and Mrs Dear for filling the planters and preparing the stakes!

 

 

May: Our solitary bees are nesting!

In our Beyond the Gate Forest School sessions, the children have been observing the solitary bees nesting in the Bee Boxes. Mrs Dear has been explaining the lifecycle and helping address any misconceptions about bees.

Children have been helping keep the bee baths full as it is so dry and hot!

A local resident near the school heard through the grapevine about our solitary bee boxes and kindly made us a special observation box, which means we will be able to (hopefully) see what happens inside the tubes! We are so grateful for this kind donation.

Site Development over the May Half Term Break: Composting Toilet installation

Beyond the Gate was a hive of activity over the half-term break, as Mrs Dear welcomed back Stuart Barrett from Just Grow Forest School Limited to install a composting toilet.

Despite the intense heatwave, Stuart—supported by Mrs Dear, Mr John and Kevin Thomlinson—worked tirelessly to construct a bespoke, purpose-built facility. The structure includes composting chambers, a baby changing area, storage space, and even a water butt to harvest rainwater.

This installation will bring many benefits to our school community. It enhances safeguarding during Forest School and Outdoor Learning sessions, as children will no longer need to return to the main school building to use the toilet. It also opens up the possibility of extending session times and creates new opportunities for the site to be used by external groups and community activities.

In addition, this new facility supports our commitment to sustainability and climate action. It provides a practical way for pupils to learn about sustainable living, personal responsibility, and environmental awareness. By experiencing an eco-friendly alternative waste system first-hand, children can develop habits and understanding that many may not have encountered before.

This amazing development was made possible by funding from Hart District Council.

Orchard Tree Planting: Friday 22nd May

As part of Veolia’s national Veolia Orchard initiative, schools located in Veolia-operated areas can apply for free orchard trees to plant in their grounds. This initiative aims to boost local biodiversity while helping pupils learn more about the natural environment. We were delighted that our application was successful, and we have now received five apple trees!

At lunchtime today, members of the Eco Committee took part in planting the trees on the school field, with valuable support from Paul at Frontier Surrey Ltd.

Inspired by our recent activities, the children chose to name the area Attenborough’s Apple Orchard—a fitting tribute to our growing commitment to nature and sustainability.

Sir David Attenborough's 100th Birthday!

1st May: Composting Area construction

Today one of our lovely parents and his colleagues continued constructing our composting area. Thank you for volunteering your time.

The next stage is to add an access area to the gate.

7th April: Tree Planting in the school grounds

Over the Easter holidays, three new trees were planted in our school grounds. Church Crookham Parish Council kindly arranged for these to be donated by Taylor Wimpey, following their removal of oak trees in the SANG area next to the school as part of their remedial work.

We are very grateful to Frontier Surrey Ltd—one of our parent-run landscaping companies—for supporting us with the planting. They generously provided both the labour and the necessary materials, including stakes and protective wire.

Mrs Dear also involved children from the school holiday club in the planting process, giving them a wonderful hands-on opportunity to contribute to improving our school environment.

They planted two Scots Pines (which will increase our evergreen species) and a hazel tree.

27th March: some photos of our planting and growing

Around school, different year groups are growing different plants!

Today, anything that needs watering over the Easter Break has been moved to a central area so that the 360 Holiday Club can help us with watering them while we are not at school! Mrs Dear has also put signs around the Year R paddock to show what needs watering there.

18th and 24th March: Miniature Garden Competition Church Crookham Gardening Society - community collaboration!

We are delighted to share that we have recently begun a community link with the Church Crookham Gardening Society. As part of their annual Spring Show, we were kindly invited to take part in the children’s category.

A small group of children, supported by Mrs Dear, enthusiastically worked in pairs to create beautiful miniature gardens.

Their creativity and teamwork really shone through in their entries!

On Saturday, Mrs Dear attended the show, and one of the children even took up the exciting opportunity to attend in person.

We are incredibly proud to announce that our entries achieved fantastic results—winning several second place medals!

A huge well done to everyone involved for their hard work, creativity, and enthusiasm, and thank you to the Church Crookham Gardening Society for this lovely opportunity to be part of their event.

13th & 20th March: Litter Picking

The Eco Committee have been out litter picking around school and the local area again!

Friday 6th March: Posters for our bins

The Eco Committee have started producing posters for our bins. These will be displayed in the classrooms - when we launch the new coloured bins (which we are waiting to arrive) to help everyone know what rubbish goes in each bin.

Wednesday 4th March: Bee News! Our Solitary Bees Are Hatching

We have some very exciting news from our bee habitats—our solitary bees have begun to hatch from their cocoons!

Last summer, these amazing bees successfully nested in the tubes of our bee hotels. Many children will remember watching them busily flying in and out of the tubes, carrying mud and pollen throughout May and June. In October, the Eco Committee carefully harvested the cocoons, which Mrs Dear then stored safely in her shed over winter.

Yesterday, Mrs Dear discovered that the first bees had begun to emerge. She brought the box of cocoons around to the classrooms, giving the children a rare opportunity to watch the young bees hatch and take their very first flight. The children were amazed to see these gentle insects up close and to learn more about their life cycle. It also helped clear up some common misconceptions — not all bees make honey, and not all bees sting!

Fun fact: the males hatch first, with the females following a little later.

After the classroom visits, Mrs Dear released the cocoons into Beyond the Gate, where some of them quickly found food from our Grape Hyacinths. Hopefully they will mate, and choose our habitats again for nesting this year.

February: Our daffodils are blooming!

Signs of Spring are appearing around the school grounds. Have you noticed that the daffodils, which were planted in October, have begun to bloom? Doesn't the bright yellow lift your spirits!

These will provide food for the early pollinators.

Eco Committee Litter Picking January & February

Throughout this half term, undeterred by the colder, damper weather, our Eco Committee has continued to be busy litter picking around the school and the local area.

As well as helping the environment, this activity also allows them to:

• Learn about different materials such as plastic, glass, metal, card, wood.
• Learn to identify and sort recyclable and non-recyclable items
• Discuss the impact of litter on the floor and in grass or bushes
• Learn about magnetic and non-magnetic materials Identify which types of products create the most litter in our area
• Discuss risks and how to stay safe
• Practise road safety
• See unusual fungi growing in different places
• Discuss the difference between the words in the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle

End of January: Our daffodil bulbs are shooting!

Have you noticed that the daffodil bulbs at the front of school have started to shoot. 

To begin their Beyond the Gate sessions this week, the Year 2 classes visited the front of the school grounds to check on the daffodil bulbs they planted in the autumn.

The children were delighted to see that their bulbs have begun to grow. To build on their previous learning, they talked about what a bulb is and how it differs from a seed—an objective from the national curriculum for science. Mrs Dear also helped them identify the stem, leaves, and bud.

It’s wonderful to spot the first signs of spring, and we’re looking forward to what promises to be a beautiful display of flowers very soon! This is one of our continued actions to increase the biodiversity of our school grounds. 

28th January: Thermal Imaging of the school

This evening, Mrs Dear welcomed Liz Vango and volunteers from Hart Council who completed a thermal imaging survey of our school building.

Buildings contribute significantly to climate emissions through the energy used for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering appliances. For schools, these emissions contribute to the climate challenges that will shape students’ futures, such as more extreme weather, hotter summers, and increased pressure on natural resources.

Hart District Council is committed to supporting the district in reducing carbon emissions, in line with its current commitments to carbon reduction. One way the council is doing this is by offering schools free thermal imaging surveys, to identify potential areas where energy is being wasted unnecessarily.

We were pleased to discover that there were very few defects in our building and so energy loss appears to be low. Most of the loss is due to behavioural circumstances such as windows not being firmly closed, blinds not being put down at night and electrical appliances being left on or on 'standby' mode.

We will receive a full report in due course, which will outline measures we can take to reduce energy wastage in the future. 

RSPB Schools Bird Watch and Big Garden Watch

For the second year, we welcomed our friends from Moray and John, from our local RSPB group to help the Eco Committee complete the RSPB Big School's Bird Watch.

The children were supported in identifying and counting the birds that they heard and saw. These included Blue Tits, Robins, Nuthatches, Great Tit's, Magpies and Pigeons. They even learnt the call of a Song Thrush!

Mrs Dear will input the data they collected onto the RSPB portal, which helps provide crucial information about how different species of birds are faring in the UK.

In addition, every child around the school made a bird feeder in their classes to take home to encourage them and their families to complete the RSPB Garden Bird watch.

Year R and Year 1 made smeared cardboard tubes in lard and then rolled them in bird seed. Year 2 made bird feeders in empty yoghurt pots.

In Star Care (our after school club) the children created posters which were displayed on the hall window, to encourage people to complete the bird watch at home!

As their homework, the children were asked to complete the bird watch. Here are some of the children's outcomes (inc. some lovely photos we received):

19th December: A bird bath

Using the money raised at the RSPB Autumn Fayre, the Eco Committee chose a range of items they wanted to purchase to help our environmental actions. This included more litter pickers and gloves; a sign for the wildflower area and a bird bath (our first in the school!).

Today, some members helped Mrs Dear set the bird bath up (by using a mallet to bang in tent pegs to secure it to the ground) and also refilled all the bird feeders.

5th December: Our first bin audit

One of our Eco School priorities this year is to reduce waste and ensure it is properly sorted for recycling.

At this week’s Eco Committee meeting, children brought in their classroom bins to carry out a waste audit. It quickly became clear that there was a lot of confusion about which bins were for recycling and general waste, as well as inconsistencies in bin colours and which bin bags were in which bins. Mrs Dear clarified that clear bags are for recycling and black bags for general waste, explaining what belongs in each.

The children then emptied and reviewed their bins—finding that waste was often not sorted correctly—and worked hard to separate it properly (despite the unpleasant smells!).

As a result, the committee agreed on the following actions:

• Eco Committee children to explain to their peers the different bin bags and what items go in which bin.
• Purchase colour-coded bins which match Hart Council waste colours (blue for recycling, black for general waste)
• Create informative posters for each bin
• Mrs Dear to discuss with Mr Whythe (site manager) so he can discuss with our cleaning company.
• Provide food waste bins in classrooms
• Develop a composting area
• Repeat the audit next term to track progress

The session also reinforced the importance of good hygiene, with thorough handwashing afterwards.

21st November: More litter Picking

Despite the frosty morning, some of the Year Two Eco Committee went out litter picking in the play park next to school.

We discussed what items of rubbish we were finding, which bag they needed to go in and the type of products being purchased that were creating the litter.

14th November: Litter Picking

Members of our Eco Committee have been out and about litter picking in the local area. We didn't let the drizzle stop us!

They are remembering to sort the rubbish into recycling and non-recycling.

And we are discovering some fascinating fungi while we are out.

7th November:  managing and improving the Wildflower Patch

Today, the Eco Committee worked alongside Mrs Dear and a volunteer to maintain and expand our wildflower patch, which was first planted in March.

Over the summer, the flowers just grew in a small, narrow strip rather than spreading across the full area. To help improve this, the space has now been carefully cleared—with the support of a wonderful parent volunteer—to give the wildflowers more room to thrive. Brambles along the fence line have also been cut back to prevent them from encroaching on the area.

One important task for the children was collecting the many acorns that had fallen. Mrs Dear explained that this year is a mast year, meaning trees have produced a much larger number of acorns than usual!

After clearing the acorns, the children raked the ground and scattered additional wildflower seeds. We’re especially excited that Mrs Dear has introduced Yellow Rattle seeds, which will help reduce grass growth and give the wildflowers an even better chance to flourish.

We’re looking forward to seeing this space blossom even further in the months ahead!

Friday 24th October - harvesting mason bee cocoons

Today, members of the Year 2 Eco Committee helped Mrs Dear to harvest the cocoons from the bee tubes in our bee boxes. This involved the children, soaking the tubes in warm water and then unravelling the cardboard to reveal the pollen, mud and cocoons.

 

It was a fiddly  - but important  - job for our solitary bees.

The cocoons will be stored safely in Mrs. Dear's BtG shed, ready to put in the release box in the Spring.

Saturday 25th October - RSPB Autumn Fayre

Today, Mrs Dear and members of our Eco Committee attended the local RSPB Autumn Fayre. Thanks to our ongoing partnership with the RSPB, we were invited to host a stall at this annual event, raising funds for both the RSPB and our school.

Our children demonstrated fantastic sales skills, confidence, and enthusiasm as they encouraged visitors to explore the products on offer. Carter, in particular, stood out as a budding salesperson, enthusiastically calling out to passers-by about what we had available!

They also put their maths skills into practice, calculating totals, ensuring they received the correct amounts, and working out change. In addition, they applied their data handling skills by keeping a tally of everything we sold—an excellent example of learning in action!

The “make your own” bird feeder packs (put together by the Eco Committee) proved extremely popular, with many visitors also purchasing the conker wreaths created during our Beyond The Gate sessions, as well as our tin can bug habitats. We also had a quiz for visitors to take part in, adding to the fun and engagement at our stall!

We shared our profit with the RSPB and ourselves, and the children are looking forward on deciding what to purchase to help towards our environmental work.

15th and 17th October: Daffodil Blub Planting

One of the first actions of our new Eco Committee was to plant daffodil bulbs at the front of the school to help increase biodiversity in this area of the school grounds.

We are very grateful to Tesco Aldershot and Church Crookham Parish Council for kindly donating the bulbs.

Year 2 classes also took part during their Beyond the Gate sessions, linking the activity to their science learning by exploring the difference between bulbs and seeds.

Friday 8th October - Environmental Review

During this week the Eco Committee have helped get answers for our Environmental Review of the school, by asking their class different questions and recording the answers.

Today, they met with Mrs Dear (Eco Schools lead), Mrs McFarlene (our sustainability lead) and Mr Whythe (site manager) to collate all their findings and begin to discuss the actions they would like to do this year to help improve our school.

Mrs Dear and Mrs McFarlene, with the support of Mr Wythe, senior leadership, our business manager and governors are now busy writing our sustainability and climate change action plan for the year, including many of the ideas from the children.

Friday 26th September

Our newly formed Eco Committee attended their first meeting today – held in Beyond the Gate.  They introduced themselves to each other, and shared why they wanted to be in the Eco - Committee and their ideas.

Their first task was to decide on the location of a new bird table which we had kindly been donated by a member of the local community. They then filled up the bird feeders around Beyond the Gate.

They then filled up the bird feeders around Beyond the Gate.

Their first task is to complete an Environmental review survey with their classes.

Thursday 25th September

We were overwhelmed by the number of children who submitted applications to be part of this year's Eco Committee. It is lovely that we have so many children passionate about nature and helping the environment. With over 75 applications, it was a tough choice!

The 20 chosen children were announced in assembly today and are looking forward to their first meeting this Friday.

Monday 22nd September - Our Green Flag Award has arrived

Our flag and certificate for the Eco School Green Flag award have arrived in school. In the assembly today, Mrs Tottem presented the flag and certificates to the children who were part of the Eco Committee last year. She delivered the certificates to the juniors for the children who left in July.

She also themed her assembly on recycling, because this week is National Recycling Week. She showed the children some different rubbish, and they sorted it into what can or cannot be recycled and showed them the recycling symbol.

Perhaps you could look at your rubbish at home this weekend and sort it with your child to reinforce this learning.

5th September 2025 – applications for this year's Eco Committee now open

Following the success and impact of last year's Eco Committee, Mrs Dear is busy making plans for this academic year.

If your child is interested in being part of the Eco Committee, please support them by completing their application form and returning it by the deadline of Friday 19th September.

 

July 2025 - we have been awarded our Eco School Green Flag award!

We have done it! Our application, with all the evidence of the amazing work we have done since January as a school has been recognised, and we have been awarded the Eco Schools Green Flag award for 2025!

Well done to Mrs Dear, the Eco-Committee and all the school community who have helped achieve this award by completing so many different actions. Here is our report:

14th July 2025 - submission of application

Mrs Dear has submitted our application for the Eco Schools Award – now we need to have our fingers crossed. It is amazing how many positive actions we have managed to do since January!

Look at this lovely piece of homework one of our Eco Committee members completed – her favourite thing of Year One has been being part of the Eco Committee!

Monday 7th July - Our School Eco Code

At the assembly today, Mrs Tottem shared our first Tweseldown Eco Code with the school. This was written by the children of the Eco Committee, who discussed ideas with the parents and home and then shared them in a committee meeting.

This will be displayed all around the school and the children will be reminded about it within their everyday activities.

Wednesday Friday 4th July - a child initiated litter pick

One of the boys in Otter class had heard all about the Eco-Committee's recent litter picking and last week told Mrs Dear that she "had to see the skate park as the litter is terrible!".  

We believe it is important to listen to our pupils, respect their views and ideas and allow them to take ownership. Therefore, Mrs Dear took him and one of the Eco-Committee children to the skate park this morning - with one of our lovely grandparent volunteers.

In less just 20 minutes, they picked up a bag full of rubbish! They discussed the type of litter they were finding (mostly sweet wrappers, crisp packets, fast food packaging and soft drink bottles) and what that told us about the people predominantly using the skate park (children). 

On the walk back to school, they continued picking up litter from along the edges of the path.

We are really proud of how this child noticed a problem, highlighted it to us and has been able to help to improve the situation. We will now add this area as a place to pick litter in the future.

 

Wednesday 1st July - more litter picking

Three of our Year One Eco -Committee children were able to litter pick this week. We looked around the Sainsbury's car park, and (like the year 2's last week) they were really pleased to see the difference in the area as a consequence of the management company increasing their schedule.

We still managed to pick up some litter and discussed what we were finding, and what that told us about how the area is used.

We explored magnetic and non-magnetic materials as some metals were attracted to our litter pickers and some were not. What a great opportunity for unplanned science learning.

Full Bee Habitats - continuing the lifecycle of our solitary bees!

During their Beyond the Gate sessions, the Year One children have been noticing how the tubes in our bee habitats are full! Female solitary bees have filled up the tubes with eggs, mud and pollen.

We are intrigued as they have only used the tubes that have brown cardboard on the outside and have not used the ones that are totally white.

 

 

We will leave them where they are, ready to harvest the cocoons in October to be stored in the shed until next Spring.

Weds 27th June - the roof went on our Minibeast Mansion!

Mrs Dear had managed to source some old, unwanted roof tiles, so the Eco Committee children added these to the minibeast mansion for the final finishing touch!

They filled up the bug drinking bowls and hope that some minibeasts will soon be seen using this habitat!

More litter picking - Weds 27th June

Mrs Dear, and our dedicated mum volunteer, took the Year 2 and Year R Eco Committee children out litter picking again today.

They started in the Jubilee play park next to school, where they noticed lots of rubbish on the floor. Whilst they were picking it all up, a lovely person was emptying the bin. So we discussed with him his role and the issue of litter. One of his jobs for the Parish Council is to empty the bins weekly - a role he offered to do many years ago. He explained how he now empties 72 bins here and on Elvetham Heath.

The children were shocked to collect nearly a whole bag of rubbish just in the play park!

However, they were very pleased when they moved across to the Sainsbury's car park area. Having been informed that the management company had agreed to increase their litter picking in the area (as a consequence of us picking litter and raising the profile of the issue), the children were very impressed with what has been done. They noticed that the bushes have all been trimmed, so less litter can get trapped in them. And, there was no litter piled up in corners, along the edges or over drain covers. It was a transformation from our previous picks!

Most of the litter they collected was directly outside Sainsbury's and the vets. 

And, in school, one of our some children had independently asked to use the school litter pickers to pick up the litter on the field and playground. They did this at break and lunchtime, without being asked - what amazing Eco Stewards!

Creating our Minibeast Mansion

Over the last few months, the Eco-Committee and other children across the school (in Forest School sessions and Forest School lunchtime club) have been helping build a Minibeast Mansion for our Beyond the Gate area (we already have the established Bug Skyscraper which was created 2 years ago, so the children wanted to create a second minibeast habitat!).

We discussed where it needed to be located and decided that it needed to be in the sun and South East facing - as that is the direction our successful bee boxes face.

The children have been adding a variety of materials to create the different layers in the pallets. Whilst they have been doing this, they have been predicting which types of minibeasts might choose to live in the different materials and why. 

They have also discussed the phrase "reduce, reuse and recycle", as we used plastic bottles and filled them with bamboo, bee tubes, leaves and sticks. This was inspired by a Year One boy who had found a plastic bottle in the undergrowth during a Forest School session, and we discussed whether we should put it in the recycling or try and reuse it.

Children had the opportunity to saw bamboo sticks to put in the habitat. The bamboo had been donated by a member of staff who had found lots in her garage and decided it could be put to good use!

The Eco Committee all helped paint a sign so the minibeast will know where to go!

It looks comfy and cosy, and we can't wait to see what minibeasts start to reside in it.

Thursday 12th June - meeting with a Parish Councillor to discuss litter.

This morning, our Eco Committee met with Debbie Moss, who is one our school governors and also on the Parish Council.

The children spoke confidently, passionately, eloquently and in depth about the issue of litter in the Sainsbury's area.

They described the different types of litter they have found when we have been litter picking, and then shared their ideas on how to reduce the amount of litter. This included showing her photos of different cigarette butt bins; chewing gum boards and bins with separate sections for sorting rubbish.

Mrs Moss then told the children how, as a result of their hard work, she had made contact with the management company for the Sainsbury's area. They have been impressed with the school's effort and, as a result, have agreed to increase the litter picking timetable for the area (from once a month to weekly), and increase the length of time they spend there.

What an amazing outcome for these children. It shows them that their small actions can have a large impact.

Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th June - developing the school grounds to improve our amazing Forest School sessions and enable increased curriculum outdoor learning.

This week our tarpaulin shelter setup was installed and erected. Stuart Barrett, from Just Grow Forest School LTD, attended the site to create two amazing shelter structures for us. 

This installation was made possible thanks to money received from the Tesco Stronger Starts (blue token) scheme and from the Hart District Council Countryside Grant.  We are also grateful to Kevin Thomlinson (Mrs Thomlinson's husband) who came in and helped with the installation.

As well as this, parent and grandparent volunteers helped Mrs Dear clear more areas of overgrown bramble and nettle to increase our area to use, and enable the next planned stage of site improvement and development. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to help out. 

Tuesday 20th May - World Bee Day at Tweseldown!

Today the whole school was buzzing as everyone took part in a range of different activities to learn about the brilliance of bees!

Children and staff were invited to dress in yellow and black or bee-themed outfits - we were very impressed with the efforts made! 

 

The day started with a whole school assembly, where Mrs Dear and two local beekeepers, who are part of the Fleet beekeepers (Kevin and Carly), told the children many fascinating facts about bees and why they are so important.

Did you know:-

Smarties have beeswax coating them (it makes them shiny!)

-Bees can flap their wings 200 times a second

-Bee's wax was the first chewing gum

What other fascinating facts can your child tell you?

Workshops with our visitors:

The Year One classes took part in a wildflower seed bomb-making workshop. They discussed why it is important for us to help increase the number of wildflowers growing and then got their hands very messy!

We hope their seeds will grow at home – and would love to see photos when they do!

Year Two had the chance to make candles by rolling bee's wax sheets around a piece of wick. It was good for them to learn that honey bees can provide us with a lot more than just honey! 

They had so many questions for Carly (a local beekeeper). We hope they enjoy lighting their candles safely at home (why not send a photo to us!).

The Year R and Year 1 classes all had the chance to look closely at some honey bees. They hunted to find the queen bee in the colony (which had a yellow dot on it) and could see the honey and honeycomb. They also got to look at different beekeeping equipment.

Pollination Learning:

To support their scientific knowledge of the pollination process, all the year groups took part in an active role-play game to help them understand how bees move pollen between different flowers.

Year R moved coloured balls between different boxes, representing flowers, and to the hive. 

Year One buzzed around the muga pitch, collecting pollen (flour) on cotton buds and delivering it to flowers (pictures & hoops). As they delivered the pollen, they had to do star jumps to use their nectar energy.

And Year Two, had the challenge of drinking“nectar” and collecting pollen balls from different flowers (hoops) and transferring them between different flowers. 

Bee themed Art and Craft:

Bees were created in all different ways–including using egg boxes, hand prints and the technique of pointillitism.

English and Science:

Across the different year groups, children completed different scientific writing tasks. Year One created some informative fact files about bees - using all the information they had learning in the assembly and through class research. Year 1 and 2 drew and labelled the anatomy of bees. And year 2 ordered the lifecycle of a bee.

Wednesday 7th May: Litter Picking - achievements and impact!

We love it when children go 'above and beyond' for themselves, their learning and the school. Eva, one of our Eco Committee members, took it upon herself to write to the company Waterhaul, asking if they would provide us with some litter-picking equipment. Her request was successful, and they donated us 2 grabbers!

These were used with enthusiasm by our Year R and year 1 eco committee, who went litter picking in the Sainsbury's area again today.

As well as collecting a whole bag full of rubbish, they discovered that some metals are magnetic and some are not, because an old nail stuck to the magnet on the grabber but the drinks cans did not. What brilliant real-life science learning whilst helping the environment.

Some families have also begun to borrow our sets of litter-picking equipment over the weekends. As part of this, we ask them to complete a log in a book, recording where and when they litter picked. Look at this amazing report that one child in Year 2 wrote about her experience:

 

Saturday 26th April - Spring Work Party

This morning we held our Spring Beyond the Gate Work Party. This was an opportunity for staff and families of the school community to help us with site management, as well as improve our site for bio-diversity.

In addition, as part of our community outreach, we were joined by members of our local scouting group. Some hard-working cubs and their leaders joined us to get stuck in, which gives the children an opportunity to fulfil some tasks for their cub badges.

It was a beautiful morning, and we achieved so much in just two hours!

 - 30 hedgerow trees were planted. These came from the Woodlands Trust as part of their free trees for schools initiative and included crab apples, hazel, hawthorn, dogrose and dogwood.

 - We created a 10 metre wildflower seed patch, by digging up the turf (thanks to some very strong diggers!); putting down cardboard (to help stop grass regrowth) and putting down special low grade topsoil. The children enjoyed sprinkling the wildflower seed on top. We are grateful to our local Fleet Lions Club for the donation of the topsoil and seeds.

 - Three new bird boxes were attached to trees by Mr John. These beautiful boxes were kindly donated to us by the arborists at Heckfield Place.

 - Some lovely mums, malleted in more wooden stakes to increase our dead hedging. We were keen to do this, as we have seen what an amazing habitat this creates in our site.

 - we spread a mountain of woodchip and bark in the paths and around base camp, to help preserve the paths and reduce dust in the dry weather.

 We emptied the bath tub which was thick with sludge and leaves - and discussed plans to make it a successful pond and even filled our bee boxes with new tubes.

What a successful morning and thank you to everyone who attended!

Thursday 3rd April - Buzzing Bees

This morning, the Year 1 and 2 children listened to a talk by our visitor, Kevin - a local beekeeper and enthusiast. He told them about bees, especially the Red Mason solitary bee.

Last April, he had delivered us some Red Mason bee cocoons which we put in the Beyond the Gate site. Throughout the year we have observed the successful life cycle - even harvesting our own cocoons in October (see the posts on our Forest School blog!). Mrs Dear has looked after the cocoons in the shed over winter.

After the talk, Kevin helped Mrs Dear place our cocoons in a new release box.

The children are learning so much about solitary bees; their lifecycle and importance. Last year was a poor year for pollinators nationally (because it was such a wet summer), so the fact that we had such a successful harvest of cocoons was lucky. Our site must be a great habitat. Let's hope these hatch successfully again this year!

Wednesday 2nd April - local area litter picking

It was the turn of our Year One and Year R Eco-Committee members to go litter picking this morning. Before leaving the school site, they discussed the risks associated with litter picking and how they would stay safe - including their road safety.

They cleared around the fence of the play park and discussed the effect of the wind on litter and where it gathered. They also identified that a lot of the litter in the park was from our school Spring Fayre at the weekend, and they talked about how this should be considered in the future.

They then went across to the shop area and cleared round some of the bushes outside Sainsbury's. They noticed all the chewing gum on the floor and the cigarette butts.

In just 20 minutes, so much litter was collected, but sadly there is so much more of it.

Wednesday 26th March - Eco Committee first litter picking in the local area

Today, Mrs Dear and one of our lovely mummy volunteers took the Year Two Eco Committee children litter picking in the local area. Before starting, they discussed the risks and how they would stay safe.

They went to the play park first and then started clearing some of the areas around the local shops opposite school.

The children were shocked at the amount of litter they collected in just 20 minutes! They discussed what kinds of litter they found and came up with ideas on how to reduce litter. 

At lunchtime, Mrs Dear also spotted the school's "tidy team" litter picking on the school field and playground.

Wednesday 19th March - feed the birds!

This lunchtime, a few children from the Eco Committee asked Mrs Dear if they could feed the birds. They pushed suet pellets into pine cones and then hung them on the trees. This idea was given to them by our RSPB visitors.

Friday 14th February - mountains of wood chip

The arborists from Heckfield Place returned to our school to add some stakes and wire around the trees to help protect them. They also, kindly, delivered some wood chip which they advised us to put around the base of some of the other trees on the field, and we put some inside the gate of the Beyond the Gate site.

Tuesday 11th February 2025  - The RSPB School Birdwatch

This morning, the Eco-Committee were joined by John and Moray, volunteers from our local RSPB group, to take part in the Big Schools Birdwatch.

The children spent an hour on the school field and in the Beyond the Gate area spotting and counting the different species of birds that they could see.  John and Moray had binoculars so they could help identify birds which were far away at the top of trees or flying overhead.

The children spotted: magpies, robins, woodpigeons, jays, blue-tits, blackbirds, great-tits, starlings, crows and a red-kite circling overhead.

Mrs Dear will submit their data to the RSPB which helps with national statistics about the population trends of species across the UK.

The children asked the volunteers good questions and learnt more about different UK birds. We discussed how we could encourage more birds to our site and help look after them. We plan to put up more bird feeders, as well as ensuring they are kept clean and regularly filled up.

Taking part in this activity not only helped the children's nature connection, but also allowed them an opportunity to apply science and maths skills as they collected their data.

Friday 31st January 2025

Today the Eco-Committee met to complete the Environmental Review for our Eco-School Award. This involved them answering questions about different topics, including biodiversity; litter; school grounds; energy; marine and healthy living. They had to consider what the school already does well and the areas we could develop and improve to be more environmentally friendly. It was great to see all the positive things we already do as a school but also discuss ways we can get even better!

Mrs Dear, Miss Fewtrell and Miss Payne will now develop an action plan to see what we can achieve between now and July, and into the next academic year. We have so many ideas!

Wednesday 22nd January 2025

The newly formed Eco Committee took part in their first task today. They were joined by arborists Dom and Lottie from Heckfield Pace, who kindly donated a Japanese Cedar and a Scott's Pine to plant.

The children learnt a lot of interesting facts about these trees and discussed how they are both evergreen trees. These are a good addition to our school grounds, as we do not have any other evergreen trees. 

The Japanese Cedar has been grown from seed from the Hampshire champion at Heckfield Place (which was planted in their grounds in 1876). Mrs Dear was pleased to get a Scott's Pine because it is a native species to Britain. 

The children are excited to look after these new trees and see them grow (we told them they will have to return when they are 60-70 years old to see them at full height!).

Friday 17th January 2025

Today we announced the names of the children who have been selected to be our Eco-Committee! Thank you to everyone who applied - it was a tough decision to choose from all the applicants, and it is great to know that so many children are interested in looking after nature and the environment.

They had their first meeting at lunchtime, with Mrs Dear, Miss Fewtrell and Miss Payne. They introduced themselves and shared some of the ideas they had for improving our school to make it more environmentally friendly.