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.